In Fruit Ninja, the player slices fruit with a blade controlled via the touch screen. As the fruit is thrown onto the screen, the player swipes their finger across the screen to create a slicing motion, attempting to slice the fruit in half. Extra points are awarded for slicing multiple fruits with one swipe. These actions are called combo"s. Players can use additional fingers to make multiple slices simultaneously. Players must slice all fruit; if three fruits are missed, the game ends, but upon reaching scores that are multiples of one hundred (i.e. 100, 200, 300, etc.), the player will gain an extra life (unless they have not missed a piece of fruit already).

Bombs are occasionally thrown onto the screen, and will also end the game should the player slice them. (Unless Bomb deflects are used).