Spectipede is a one or two player game based on the classic Centipede and is one of many similar Centipede clones. The object of the game is to play for as long as possible to achieve a high score.

The gameplay stays very close to the original tried and tested formula. The Spectipede lives in a forest that the player is entering. It starts out at the top of the screen and works its way down, changing direction whenever it encounters an obstacle such as a tree, mushroom or the edge of the screen. The player is at the bottom of the screen and must shoot the Spectipede before it reaches the bottom of the screen and they are devoured. Whenever the Spectipede is shot it will break into two pieces which will move independently.

In addition to the Spectipede itself, flees will jump from the beast and descend towards the player. These require two shots to kill them and they speed up when first hit. As the fleas descend they drop mushrooms onto the screen. Also roaming across the screen are scorpions. These poison the mushrooms and ant Spectipede hitting a poisoned mushroom will immediately drop to the bottom of the screen towards the player. The player must also watch out for a spider which makes random appearances and tries to attack the player.

Points are scored for each Spectipede segment, flea, scorpion & spider killed with a bonus awarded when an entire screen is cleared. The player starts with three lives and an extra life is awarded for every 20,000 points scored.