Trap Panels is a visual novel style game about the daily life of a guy and his trap friend. In Trap Panels, the player doesn't read the story from text box at the bottom fo the screen. Instead, the dialogue and the user interaction is performed as if the player is reading a manga. The player must read the dialogue from panels to panels. However, there's more to the game than just reading the dialogue like a static manga page.

Each time the player finished reading a dialogue, the character will move to the next panel. Some panel will require the player to make a choice on which panel the character should move to. Depending on the panel choices, the ending outcome will be different. Sometimes the character might get stuck in a panel loop. During the panel loop, the player must find certain items or look at certain things by clicking on objects in the background. Doing so the character can find clues or collect items in order to continue the story.

The player can also turn on voice over instead of reading the dialogues. Background music will also change depending on the location and mood the character is in. Sometimes the main character will get annoyed by his trap friend and attempt to escape the story. This happens if the player made a bad choice or almost start a "bad end" route. The player will need to try to catch him and drag him back into the correct panel in order to continue the game.