Shape Shooter 3 is the next fun, nostalgic, arcade-style shooter in the Shape Shooter game series. The player continues to attempt to survive attacks from a wide range of individual and grouped shapes of varying sizes, colors and capabilities on a black and gray grid battlefield. Their goal is to earn as many points and handle as many waves of attack as possible.
The player starts out in Normal mode. If they achieve a score of 10,000, they can unlock a mystery (???) mode. They use a starfighter ship similar to the ones in Shape Crusher by the same developer. The first ship fires basic projectiles, features unlimited fuel and receives protection from a temporary shield. The player directs the ship around the battlefield. When they shoot a green shape, they receive access to extra capabilities. They can also pick up light blue pieces of shield to restore a broken shield. They merely need the number of pieces indicated on a horizontal bar at the center top of the field.
Over time, Shape Shooter 3 provides the player with automatic upgrades to new ships that feature better or extra cannons and capabilities. The upgraded weapons usually match the temporary weapons equipped from green shapes and include bombs, drones, grenades, laser beams, rotating cutters, scatter projectiles, snowflake freeze rays and traps.
If the player picks up enough coins on the battlefield and watches advertisements, they can use the coins to buy and unlock weapons for any ship. Additionally, they can continue a battle after a crash.