The game uses a top view, and starts with both Chaplin Brothers at the center of the park. They are completely bound to each other by the hands. Each player controls the movement intent of one brother: WASD for the first player; Arrow keys for the second. Up/down keys makes a brother try to walk forward/backwards; Right/Left keys makes a brother attempt to turn clockwise/counter-clockwise. Despite of this, the actual movement performed by both brothers comes from the interplay between the inputs of both players at each moment (or lack of them) – this is the core gameplay and main USP of The Chaplin Brothers.

Each brother has a “Life bar” that takes damage in any collision (with NPCs or obstacles). A timer starts at 0, and goes up until one brother “dies” (game over!), or find a key (you win!). The high score table shows the players that found the key in less time.