Dan The Man is a 2D platformer beat-'em up game, where the players have to complete sets of levels in worlds. The player must traverse worlds with themes such as a grassy village, the sewers, but primarily of a kingdom. The player is shown a world map which lets them access levels and bonus levels. Normal levels have the player complete a series of platforming and combat challenges, where the game is interrupted by fight sequences in certain areas where the player is forced to defeat groups of enemies to continue. There are some secrets within levels which reward the player for finding them.There are shops scattered around levels where the player can purchase items to help them at any time using coins (the in-game currency).Normal levels contain a boss fight if they are the last level of the world. Bonus levels have the player fight groups of enemies with little platforming inside of an arena, where the player goes on to the next round of enemies. These levels usually have 3 rounds of enemy battles, where the player has intermissions in between in all of them to buy items and power-ups to aid in battle. If the player is defeated or runs out of time (which they can get from defeating enemies and destroying objects), they lose. If the player is defeated for the first time in any normal level, they can watch an advertisement to get a Revival Potion, which revives the player from the exact place they were defeated (the player won't have to watch an advertisement if they pay a micro transaction). When completing the Main Story for the first time, the player unlocks Hard Mode,]where enemies are stronger, faster, and have more health; the player also doesn't have their Revival Potion. The player can find ranged weapons in levels, which can be held on to multiple levels. Weapons can be upgraded to increase their damage and effectiveness in the character menu. When the player completes a level after the first world, the player has to wait for a certain number of time (examples include 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours) before being able to play the next level (this can be bypassed with micro transactions). Bonus levels are unlocked after beating certain levels and require no wait time to access. There are two DLC worlds the player can buy, which are Frosty Plains and Fright Zone. Both come with more levels with more enemies and art. Characters The player may use one of four characters. Dan, Josie, Barry Steakfries[10] (a character derived from Jetpack Joyride, has to be purchased with real money), and a custom character.[6] Dan and Josie have no special attributes while Barry has a shotgun attack with lower damage output, and the custom character has passive boosts to their stats depending on the clothes they wear. The player's custom character option can be given a piece of clothing by purchasing the clothing with coins or through some other means. Each character has their own upgrades, where the player can spend coins to make a specific character's ability stronger by increasing the damage, speed, add new attributes, etc.