Skitchin' puts the player in control of an inline skater competing in a tournament spanning twelve different cities, including Vancouver, New York City, and San Diego; the skater advances to the next race by finishing in fifth place or higher against a varying amount of opponents.[3][4] During a race, the skater can accelerate, jump, crouch, attack neighboring racers, and engage in skitching, the act of clutching onto a moving vehicle's bumper to gain momentum.[5] At any point while skitching, the skater can propel themself off the bumper, which can be used to "slingshot" to another vehicle or escape from an opponent skitching on the same vehicle, who will try to shove the skater off.[5][6] Weapons such as nunchaku, chains, pipes, crowbars, whips, and baseball bats can be picked up off the road and used to attack opponent racers. Traffic cones on the side of the road may indicate a nearby weapon. Some opponents wield the aforementioned weapons, which can be taken and used by the skater if the enemy racer is attacked as they are holding the weapon out to strike. The skater can carry multiple weapons at once and cycle through them to select a weapon for use.[7] The skater can also perform tricks after skating off a ramp if the player presses one of any button while the skater is midair. When a trick is successfully performed, a trio of judges momentarily appear in the lower-left corner of the screen to rank the trick's complexity.[8]