Adventure in Time is a text-based adventure game, that requires the player to adventure through multiple time zones. All commands are typed via VERB NOUN entries. The player must gather inventory and solve text-based puzzles, and can hold up to 6 items at a time. The player starts out in the future, after being drugged and left incapacitated by the criminal responsible. They must explore a variety of time zones, including Stonehenge, ancient Rome, and the Mesozoic era, to gather the missing pieces of the all powerful weapon before Nostradamus can construct it, and use it to destroy the human race.

Eons ago, a great weapon was constructed, which could end the human race as we know it. This weapon was eventually dismantled, and pieces distributed through multiple time zones of Earth's history. Alas, a document containing the location of these pieces has gone missing, and the player must hunt the criminal Nostradamus through time to save the human race.