Stair Run is a click-tap racing game. The runner is a superhero or person wearing a superhero costume running on a white track with multicolored borders suspended in a deep blue sky. The player must help the runner overcome tall red geometric shapes and other obstacles in their path. They must also achieve a high final score on a rainbow-colored stairway at the end of the course where steps represent different point multipliers.
The hero automatically starts the run the moment the player interacts with the game screen. They collect planks on the track that they can use to create steps that rise up and over the obstacles. The player must direct the board placement by clicking or tapping the screen in time for the runner to bypass an obstacle.
The player doesn't need to attach the boards to anything. Once the runner reaches the top of an obstacle, the player can stop directing the placement of the boards. The character simply floats down to the track level.
Stair Run requires that the player have excellent dexterity, coordination and timing to place the boards at the right moment. They must also have fantastic estimation skills to guarantee that the character has enough boards by the time it reaches the end of the track. The runner can't climb the stairs. Instead, the player must click or tap repeatedly to place boards to help it reach a high-value multiplier zone.