Ruffy and the Riverside opens up a vast world for gamers to explore, where they can change the environment using the SWAP ability. This tool allows you to copy textures from one object and transfer them to another, turning icy streams into fiery rivers or stone cliffs into thickets of vines. Players explore a variety of locations, solving puzzles and bypassing obstacles by changing surfaces. Fights require a combination of dexterity and resourcefulness, where changing textures helps to outwit opponents. Sliding on unusual surfaces, such as straw bales, makes movement exciting.