The game uses a side-on, hand-drawn point-and-click presentation. Players guide Woodruff through connected locations, examine objects, speak with inhabitants, collect items, and use the inventory to solve situational puzzles.

Progress is structured around story chapters and newly accessible areas. Conversations can reveal clues or trigger events, while many solutions require combining objects or applying them in unexpected contexts. The game has no combat-focused system; advancement comes from exploration, dialogue, observation, and experimentation.

Examine every visible object and speak with characters more than once, especially after major story events.

Keep unusual inventory items rather than discarding them. When a puzzle seems blocked, revisit earlier locations and test items on environmental objects or characters; the game often uses comic, indirect solutions rather than realistic ones.