While the player will visit every area at one point in the game, many parts are optional and can be opened by skills obtained later in the game. Not all of them are open for the player at the start, requiring specific tasks to be completed first. The player can explore 14 locales in the game, including the beach 'Dolphin Coast', lake 'Lappy Lake', forest 'Whisker Woods', and so on. Bubbles appear above friendly non-playable characters as well to indicate that they need the player's help for a task. The player can stun enemies by barking/meowing behind them, which can be held down for a longer effect (in the dog's case, it will turn their bark into a howl), or by throwing pebbles against them. The player starts out at 3 HP, which is upgraded at certain points in the game up to 8 if all of them are depleted, the player has to start over from the last save point.

When an enemy attacks, the bubble indicating their mood above their head changes.

Throughout the game, the player faces a variety of hostile animals, such as snakes, gorillas, bats, and others, who will hurt the player if they tread too closely. The player can walk, run, creep, and push rocks as locomotion.

Before the game starts, the player is asked to choose the animal's breed, gender, and finally, name, all of which have no bearing in the game itself. The game is based on The Dog Island, in which the player controls a dog or cat through environments while completing tasks.

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