Barbie Magic Genie Bottle is a computer game that is packaged with a custom-purpose input peripheral -- an actual genie bottle that attaches to a Windows PC via a standard PC 15-pin joystick port. The bottle is used to invoke special actions during the game and is thus a required component of the gameplay.

Barbie transports the player to the distant land where you will be assisting her. Barbie needs the player to visit 5 different lands and collect 5 different gems. In order to collect the gem in each land, the player must solve a puzzle. Solving the puzzle requires collecting 5 puzzle pieces scattered about the land.

Gameplay involves navigating through a first-person 3D city on foot and via flying carpet, which raises the player up to a higher plane. All the while, Barbie is in tow lending advice. Throughout different cities, the player also has to interact with other people and complete sub-quests that they assign in order to advance the game.

You find yourself in possession of an ornate bottle and take it to an antique shop to have the bottle evaluated and appraised. The storekeeper informs you that the bottle is magic and that all you need to do is rub it. Suddenly, Barbie emerges from the bottle in genie form and explains her plight -- an evil genie in the employ of a sinister sultan stole her powers. She requests your help to retrieve her powers and defeat the bad sultan and genie.