Rime is played with a third-person view as the player controls a young boy who has washed ashore on an abandoned island. The player can make the boy run, climb, carry objects, and push or pull larger objects across the island's landscapes. The player can have the boy shout or sing, which can trigger certain events tied to nearby statues, such as causing a door to open for a limited length of time.
Through these commands, the player solves various environmental puzzles. Some of the puzzles are based on the use of perspective, using a special turret-like feature to align several disparate objects to create a doorway on a surface they project onto, or trigger other events in a similar way.