Sturmwind , a horizontally scrolling shoot'em up, challenges players with 16 levels divided into seven worlds. Each world ends in a boss fight, but some levels feature vertically scrolling passages and time-based boss battles.
The game offers three initial weapons that can be lost if the ship is hit. When this happens, the weapon is destroyed, and it must be regained by collecting a bonus item, which can upgrade or change the weapon type.
Players can unlock art galleries and achievements like completing levels with specific weapon usage. Highscores can be compared on a website by entering a code provided in-game.