BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is a Japanese computer fighting game featuring old and new characters from the Blazblue series of fighting games. As a standard fighting game, two characters engage in a fight consisting of a number of rounds. The number of rounds depend on the player's preference. To win a fight, the player must win at least one round (if there is only a single round in a fight). This can be done when the opponent's health bar is reduced to zero. To do this, the player's character must perform moves, actions, and combos to reduce the opponent's lifebar. The round ends when the opponent is knocked out or if the time runs out. In the event of time running out, the player with the greater amount of health wins that round.
Each character in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger has different kinds of attacks. These attacks can be a weak attack, a medium attack, or a strong attack. Combo moves can be performed. These can be done by performing various control combinations. Special attacks can be performed when the character's heat gauge is filled up. This heat gauge can be found at the lower portion of the screen. The game also allows different forms of blocks. The guard block is a normal block that can be broken easily through the guard crush. The barrier block, on the other hand, can only be broken when the barrier gauge is empty.