Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Tatsuya Asagiri. Its gameplay requires little player interaction as much of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents the story's narrative and dialogue. The text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Tatsuya is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.

There are seven main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. Every so often, the player will come to a point where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. Text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. After the completion of the six heroine routes, the final scenario called Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na is made available. Throughout gameplay, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Tatsuya and a given heroine having sex.