Gurk III: The 8-bit RPG is a role-playing game set in a fantasy scenario. As most party-based games, it starts with character creation: the basic party members are fixed with one warrior, one mage and one ranger. However, each class has three characters to choose from; each with other abilities. Then the player can re-roll the starting statistics and is set for the game.
There is no overarching plot; the party just moves from town to town solves the local problems, e.g. a goblin infestation, by visiting a dungeon and killing monsters. This process rewards experience points which eventually bring a level up and improve the character’s stats. The player has no input on the character progression, though. When a fight is initiated - either by touching an enemy sprite on the map or randomly - the game switches to a grid-based combat screen. Here the characters move, attack or use abilities in a turn-based fashion. There is only one save file, but defeat does not mean the end of the game: the party is teleported back to the last visited town, but all money is lost.
Of course each town also has a shop where players can use money to buy new equipment or potions to improve their changes. Spells require magic points to use which automatically regenerate while walking around the map. The interface is a 9x9 grid located at the bottom of the screen; each grid has a different command associated to it depending on the current situation.