Bouncing Balls is a bubble-shooting game that features mixed-color bubble balls with spiral patterns displayed in rows attached to the underside of a 1,000-ton gray-silver plate inside of a press. Against a gradient blue-black playfield inside the press housing, the player uses a ring shooter with a pointer shaped like a sword blade tip to target and shoot projectiles at the rows to create and remove clusters of three or more matching balls.
The press plate and balls move slowly down the screen. As a result, the player doesn't need to rush when attempting to complete this task across the first couple of levels. They merely need to accurately target bubble balls, which the game makes difficult by not providing an aiming line. That said, the player can angle shots off the sidewalls to hit difficult-to-reach groups of connected matching balls.
Although Bouncing Balls also doesn't provide a swap projectile option, the player does receive a preview of the next projectile to help them plan their shots faster. When they perform a hit that creates a cluster, the bubble balls don't actually bounce. The only bouncing action occurs when the player angles a shot off one of the two sidewalls. Instead, the balls shrink, transform into orange stars, and then fade from the field.
