Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force is a card game, following the TCG rules (OCG in Japan) and based on the first season of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime series. The player controls a young boy who enrolls at a foreign student at the Duel Academy.

The game is divided in three parts. In the first one the player has to team up with one of the famous characters from the anime. There are different conversation options and each Sunday a Tag Duel is held with one of the chosen partners. Affection needs to be built up through conversations and gifts until a partner has six hearts. Eventually the Tag Force Tournament at the end of July needs to be won and that is where the second part starts. A final partner is chosen and the characters much progress through duels to acquire 90 GX Medals and make it to the final round of the tournament. In the third part all Shadow Riders (Steven Stars in Japan) must be defeated that have brainwashed other characters.

The protagonist starts with a water deck and gains cards, which can be purchased from the store with DPs, as time goes by. After completing the game it an be restarted with another character to gain DPs. The duels are played from an almost top-down view with turn-based card desk battles.