ToeJam & Earl

ToeJam & Earl takes place from a 3/4 perspective in a 2D game world. Its gameplay mechanics were inspired by Rogue , which has led it to be compared to genres like Roguelikes or dungeon-crawlers . The game contains both single-player and two-player cooperative modes. The latter displays a single screen when both characters are near each other, but splits it apart when they are not.

Playing the game with two players reveals dialogue and jokes between the characters not heard in the single player game. The game is set on Earth, which is represented by randomly generated islands that float in space, each one a layer above the last. They are connected by elevators. Some islands contain pieces of spacecraft wreckage, of which the player must collect 10 to win the game.

The player character drops to the island below if he falls from an island's edge, which necessitates that the player again locate an elevator. Each island is populated by antagonistic "Earthlings", such as phantom ice-cream trucks, aggressive packs of " nerds ", giant hamsters, Bogeymen , man-eating mailboxes, and chickens armed with mortars that shoot tomatoes . Certain Earthlings aid the player. The game has been described as "largely non-violent", as the protagonists can only attack enemies with thrown tomatoes—one of many temporary, randomly generated power-ups .

Power-ups are contained in wrapped presents, which are categorized by appearance. The contents of a present are unknown to the player until it is opened; afterwards, all presents of that appearance are identified. A certain type of NPC wearing a carrot costume will also identify presents for a fee. Presents with question marks can hold any item at random, so their contents cannot be identified on sight alone.

Identification of presents' contents is a central gameplay mechanic. Each power-up has a unique effect: while one might increase the player characters ' running speed, another distracts enemies. Certain presents contain harmful power-ups, such as the "Total Bummer" which causes the player to lose a "life", or the "Randomizer" which resets the identity of all presents. In the game's cooperative mode, if one player character opens a present in the vicinity of the other, its contents affect both characters.

As players open more presents, the chances of accidentally opening the Randomizer are increased, which prevents the game from becoming easier as more presents are identified.