Rime is an adventure on an island where you play a boy led a fox-like spirit as a guide. To progress through the beautiful environments you solve puzzles across five large levels. You can run, climb, carry objects, and push or pull larger objects across the island's landscapes. You can also shout or sing to trigger certain events tied to nearby statues.

The game has no dialogue but there is a story, where it eventually transpires that the game and its levels are a representation of a father mourning the loss of his son. Each chapter of the game corresponds to a stage of the Kübler-Ross model of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. For example, the denial stage features tranquil pleasant scenery, while the anger stage features a big angry bird.