Like its predecessor Blockade, the object of Surround is to maneuver a square across the screen, leaving a trail behind. A player wins by forcing the other player to crash into one of the trails.[3] Twelve game variations include options allow for speed-up, diagonal movement, wrap-around, and "erase" (the choice to not draw at a given moment). In addition, the sprites can be set to operate at a slower speed, or progressively speed up through five speeds.[4][5]: 33 
Two additional variations provide a non-game mode called "Video Graffiti" in which players use the joysticks to draw pictures on the screen.[