You play as Bob, a platforming hero who's out to save a princess who's been kidnapped by an evil king an unknown number of times. The main draw to the game is that levels are procedurally generated, offering an optimal challenge based on the level and the power-up that Bob is using. Levels are very short, usually lasting no more than 15-20 seconds, but they all have various tricky jumps to make and death traps to dodge before reaching the door to the next level.
Tropes used in Cloudberry Kingdom:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: In some levels. It's a wall with spikes on it. No surprises there, really.
- Anti-Frustration Features: If you have trouble with some level, you have three options: watch how AI completed it, see a path or activate slow motion. Keep on mind though these features cost coins.
- Death Trap: Laser beams, disappearing platforms, Spikes of Doom, and spinning fire bars/chainsaws/spiked balls of pain are just a few of the obstacles Bob has to navigate to reach the end of each level.
- Double Jump: One of the power ups you might start a level with—but only sometimes; unlike most games with a double jump, you don't always have this ability.
- Endless Game: "Escalation" mode in The Arcade starts you out with 15 lives, and throws as many levels as it can at you until you either lose all of your lives or give up.
- Follow the Money: Each level has trails of diamonds that players can follow for an optimal path through the chaos.
- Goomba Springboard: Jumping on bees gives Bob a way to get an extra boost.
- Jet Pack: Jet pack mode offers limited hovering ability for Bob. It only has one or two seconds of fuel, and is better used for boosting a jump than trying to slow one's descent from a long fall.
- Made of Explodium: Bob explodes dramatically on death, whether he's hit by spikes, lasers, or fire.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Bob, a typical example, dies in one hit.
- Save the Princess: Subverted and exploited. The princess let herself to be kidnapped in order to kill a kidnapper and Bob, because she wanted the orb. Bob himself just wanted to get the orb, and didn't care about the princess all along.
- Saw Blades of Death: Rotating saw blades are a common obstacle. Saw blades themselves are attached to chains, spinning around an axis.
- Solid Clouds: Non-transparent clouds can be stood on.
- Spike Balls of Doom: Spike balls with a face come in two varieties: The ones falling down from above and the ones swining on a chain.
- Springs, Springs Everywhere: Square blocks bounce the player up in the air.
- Time Trial: Time Crisis, Hero Rush and Hybrid Rush modes start you out with 15 seconds, and add a second or two for every diamond you collect.
