The Wingless Bee is an arcade-style hop-and-dodge game where a bee named Bella is abruptly thrown far away from the hive she lives and works at. With her wings destroyed, she can only hop to get back home. Along the way, she'll pick up honey drops and encounter all sorts of devious enemies and obstacles. Crumbling platforms, bouncy mushrooms, ice logs, boss battles, and more await her on her return. The game's levels are divided in that some will scroll vertically, while others will scroll horizontally. There are two modes of play - Story and Score Attack.

Story mode goes through each level in a set order, one by one, featuring cutscenes and dialogue between Bella and whoever she meets along the way home.

Score Attack allows players to pick from any available level to tackle for a high score on it, with the last batch of levels only available by playing them in Story mode first.

Though the narrative centers around one bee, both modes can be played with a second player via local co-op multiplayer! However, as the camera continues to follow Player 1, Player 2 must make sure they stay on-screen or else they'll die and lose points as if they got hit by an enemy.

The game does not have a lives system. Rather, you lose points if you die at any point in the game. Similarly, the timer at the bottom of the game screen will not kill the player if it runs out. Instead, it only serves as bonus points for when the player finishes a level. So you won't need to fret too much to get through a level, though if you want to try to net some high scores, being on your toes would still definitely matter.