Bluey and her friends Coco and Snickers are playing games outside, but Coco keeps trying to bend the rules to make them easier to win.
Tropes:
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: While crossing the shadows of cars, Bluey gets distracted by a bug. Then, the car moves, and its shadow moves with it, leaving a big area of open light between the two cars that Bluey can't cross.
- Because I Said So: At first, Bluey can't come up with a concrete reason to give Coco why the rules of Shadowlands can't be broken, other than this. After a situation happens where a cloud temporarily covers the sun and gives everyone a way to reach the picnic blanket, but the cloud moves quickly and forces them to run really fast, Coco finds out why: the rules are what make the game fun!
- Bolivian Army Ending: Played for Laughs. The episode ends with Bluey, Snickers, Chilli, Snicker's mum, and Coco's mum playing "What's the Time, Ms. Wolf?" again. This time, instead of cheating, Coco says "dinnertime" causing Bluey to scream and bracing for impact just as the episode ends.
- Bookends: The episode begins and ends with Coco, Bluey and Snickers playing "What's the Time, Ms. Wolf?", with Coco playing the wolf. The difference is, it ends with Coco playing fairly, as to drive home she's learned a valuable lesson from her experience.
- Character Development: At the beginning, Coco has a tendency to bend rules if it means she'll win the game. This prompts Bluey to enact playing the titular game, where she, Coco, and Snickers have to use their heads to win the game. At the climax, when it seems they'll never reach their goal, Coco almost convinces Bluey to bend the rules, until a windfall gives them the second wind to finish the game on fair terms. Following this, Coco admits playing the game fairly was more exciting than if they had forgone the rules. Afterwards, the story ends on the note that Coco has indeed learned to play fair.
- Furry Reminder: When "trapped" on a palm tree island, Bluey, Snickers, and Coco start howling like real puppies.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: At the end, when Bluey, Snickers and Coco with their moms play "What's the Time, Ms. Wolf?"Chilli: Oh, maybe this time will be dinner time!
Bluey: It won't! Coco always waits until we're right next to her before she says...
Coco: Dinner time! (charges at the others, including an unprepared Bluey) - Moving the Goalposts: Bluey annoyedly points out that Coco often does this during games, changing the rules to make things easier for her. By the end of the episode, Coco learns that following the rules is part of what makes a game fun.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Bluey, Snickers, and Coco play a game called "Shadowlands," where they can only move around in the shadows, and if they step out into the sunlight, they'll be eaten by crocodiles.
- Pretty Butterfly: Coco wears one as a hairclip.
- Stealth Pun: As opposed to earlier games where Coco could bend the rules, Bluey enacts they play Shadowlands where the rules are simple and straight-forward: they can move on dark spaces but never on light spaces. In other words, the rules of Shadowlands are black-and-white.
- Sweet Tooth: The kids' moms have cupcakes on the picnic blanket, so they make reaching it the objective of the game.
