Guard Turkey,the player,controlling a pumpkin, must destroy enemy pumpkins in each level, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy pumpkins attempt to destroy the players base (represented on the map as a turkey), as well as the human pumpkin itself. A level is completed when the player destroys all 20 enemy pumpkins, but the game ends if the players base is destroyed or the player loses all available lives.
Each map contains different types of terrain and obstacles. Examples include fence that can be destroyed by having either the players pumpkin or an enemy pumpkin shoot at them, adobe that can be destroyed by the player if he has collected three or more power-up stars, bushes that hide pumpkins under them, ice fields that make it difficult to control pumpkin and pools of water which cannot be crossed by pumpkins. There are four progressively harder types of enemy pumpkins. The game becomes more challenging in later levels, as enemy pumpkins may act as decoys to lure players away from their base so that another pumpkin can destroy it. In addition, flashing pumpkins could be destroyed for power-ups. There are several types of power-ups: pumpkin symbol gives an extra life, star improves players pumpkin (having one star make shots faster, having two stars allow two simultaneous shots, having three stars allow the player to destroy steel), bomb destroys all visible enemy pumpkins, clock freezes all enemy pumpkins for a period of time, shovel adds steel walls around the base for a period of time and shield makes players pumpkin invulnerable to attack for a period of time.