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Once you have inserted your coin(s) into the cabinet of Atari Games's 1991 arcade game, Off the Wall, you shall have to press one of the Action Buttons to begin the game as player 1 (red paddle), player 2 (green paddle) or player 3 (blue paddle); once you have done so, the game will proceed to the level selection screen shown above where you shall have ten seconds to select either Rookie (no bonus), Beginner (5000 points), Advanced (10000 points) or Expert (15000 points) by turning your rotary controller to make the five rainbow-coloured triangles (seen in the top-left of the above screenshot) move clockwise or anticlockwise around the screen and highlight one of the four difficulty levels, then pushing your Action Button to confirm your choice. Once you have done so, the game shall start on your chosen level (the numbers seen in the above screenshot are one less than their actual values) with your chosen paddle on the left side (1P), bottom (2P) or right side (3P) of the screen - however, if you're playing on a two-player cabinet, the second player's original green paddle's removed, and player 3's blue paddle becomes player 2's. If you chose to start on Rookie difficulty level the text "GET THE BALL INTO THE EXIT" will be displayed in the centre of the screen before the paddles appear; however, regardless of which difficulty level you chose to start on, the text "PUSH BUTTON TO LAUNCH BALL" shall always appear at the top of the screen when each wave starts until all players launch their balls.
Each regular brick is worth 10 points when destroyed, while each bounce of the ball off your paddle is worth 1 point (for multiplayer games, the balls will change colour as they bounce off other players' paddles, and each player will only receive the points for bricks that balls of their colour destroy); when a player manages to bounce their ball into a wave's exit they will receive a bonus of 20 points for every brick remaining on the screen. As long as one ball remains in play none of the players shall lose a life - and any new ball going out of play within four seconds of being launched shall also not result in the launching player losing a life (indicated by the text "TRY AGAIN" appearing on that player's side of the screen). After a short period of time, one ball will split into two; the balls also become faster the longer they stay in play, as their speed starts at "SLOW" ,but increases to "MEDIUM", "FAST", "HYPER", "WARP", "BOGUS", "LUDICROUS", "THEYVE GONE PLAID" (a reference to the 1987 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Spaceballs), and "OFF THE WALL".
If you chose to start on Rookie difficulty level, the text "GLOWING BRICKS ARE POWER-UPS" will be displayed in the centre of the screen at the start of the fourth wave (the first one to feature them); as mentioned on the previous page, the powerups that the glowing bricks leave behind will fly towards the paddle of the player who last bounced a ball away, but if the balls are moving at a high speed, they shall fly around in several directions before they can be collected. If any player grabs an S powerup while the balls' speed is at "SLOW", their speed's reduced to "REAL SLOW" - and after a maximum of nine waves (however, certain waves will be skipped depending on which players' sides are active), the players will proceed to the second section as the text "WHITE BRICKS CAN'T BE HURT" appears on the screen (from now, each bounce of a ball off a white brick is worth between 1 and 5 points).
After a maximum of five more waves, the players will proceed onward to the third section as the text "SOME BRICKS MOVE IN CIRCLES" appears on the screen (from this point, some brick formations revolve in a clockwise direction); after another maximum of five more waves the players will proceed to the fourth section as the text "THESE GUYS CAN BE TRICKY!" appears on the screen (from here, new bricks will get airdropped in by parachute to replace the ones you destroy and the exits shall warp from one point to another). After a third maximum of five more waves, the players will proceed to the fifth section, which introduces spirals (that speed up the balls), propellers (that put spin on the balls) and arrows (that deflect the balls) - and after a fourth maximum of five more waves, the players shall proceed onward to the sixth section, as the text "WATCH OUT FOR MOVING BRICKS" appears on the screen (from this point the bricks in some formations will make 90-degree turns to move from one point to another, making it harder to hit them).
After a maximum of six more waves, the players will proceed to the seventh section as the text "HIT THEM IN FLIGHT FOR BONUS POINTS" appears on the screen (from this point, winged bricks will fly up from the bottom of the screen to replace the ones you destroy, and some existing ones will grow legs for jumping); after a fifth maximum of five more waves, the players shall proceed to the eighth section as the text "WATCH OUT FOR BRICKS ON THE MARCH" appears on the screen (from this point, the bricks in some formations will suddenly change position). After a sixth maximum of five more waves, the players shall proceed to the ninth section as the text "BOMBS TAKE OUT BRICKS NEXT TO THEM" appears on the screen - and this also applies to the previously-indestructible white bricks. After a seventh maximum of five more waves, the players shall proceed to the tenth section as the text "SOME BRICKS ARE INVISIBLE" appears on the screen (from this point, all the orange bricks in some formations are invisible, but they shall light up for a millisecond every time you destroy one); after an eighth maximum of five more waves, the players shall proceed to the eleventh section as the text "BE CAREFUL, GETTING SHOT SHRINKS YOUR PADDLE" appears on the screen (from this point, there will be triangles on the exits rotating to face the paddles, glowing in rainbow colours, then firing a shot at them). After a maximum of four more waves, the players shall proceed to the twelfth and final section as the text "FROM HERE ON, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN! GOOD LUCK!" appears on the screen - and the game will continue until all the players have run out of lives (but even though it is possible to continue it by inserting another coin within ten seconds, it does not have an ending).
In multiplayer games, every fourth wave is a "Sudden Death" wave; a single ball shall be launched, and the players must keep it in play by bouncing it off their paddles for as long as possible (reminiscent of Pong) until one of them inevitably misses it (the last player standing shall receive an extra life).