Vex 5, a continuation of the Vex dungeon-crawl-style platformer series, places the stickman in more dangerous situations in various complex labyrinth settings. The player's main goal is to move the stickman through the game without the character dying before reaching a red flag at the end of each level or Act.
The player must make the stickman run, jump and perform special maneuvers and stunts, such as climb walls, crawl, flip, swing, jump off spring-loaded platforms and swim underwater, to make it through each labyrinth. The game features deadly obstructions, including stationary spikes on the floors, spikes that thrust up out of platforms at different intervals, spiked wheels on swinging arms and pendulums and spiked circular, spinning blades.
Beyond the 10 Acts, with Vex as the last one, the player can also play a marathon Challenge room filled with even more difficult-to-bypass deadly objects that they must pass the stickman through before a timer or the character's lives run out. Every time they repeat the room, they face a different version of it. Additionally, the player wins trophies and achievements for completing special tasks, such as locating and grabbing hidden stars.