You play as 'HERO', as in the letters forming the word 'hero'. Gameplay consists of the usual jumping with grabbing/lifting along with more unique elements like moving letters found in the world to form words. These words (usually nouns or verbs) will effect change on the world, for example, forming the word 'on' will activate a machine nearby and 'tilt' will rotate something nearby, provided that you form the word near enough the object. Objects in the world will have the word for what they are on them, elevators will have 'ELEVATOR' on them, moving platforms will have 'PLATFORM' on them.
Typoman provides examples of:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: A wall of fire pursues HERO for part of Chapter Two.
- All There in the Manual: Downplayed. While there is a backstory of sorts, it's given in arcane "artistic indie game" quotes a la Braid or The Bridge (2013), those quotes are in-game collectibles, and given that similar quotes are used as hints in the unrevised version, they may just be hints instead of lore.
- Anti-Frustration Features: For the Wii U version, rather than tediously shifting letters around one by one with HERO, the player can use the scrambler on the Game Pad to move them with the touch screen. The Word Scrambler still exists in other versions, but obviously there's no touch screen.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: FENRIR.
- Arch-Enemy: GARMR, who serves as the main adversary to the HERO encountered throughout the game, creating enemies and obstacles to impede their progress.
- Big Eater: GORGE is used as a verb, the action taken by what lies in wait there, in addition to a noun. If you find a 'D' for it to snap up, it becomes GORGED and you can safely cross the creature's back.
- Bittersweet Ending: The bad news is HERO ultimately gets eaten by FENRIR for all his efforts. The good news is he is reunited with his other arm and is reborn as HOPER, spreading positive words.
- Book Burning: This goes on in the background throughout the game.
- Chest Monster: At one point HERO will be looking for letters and come across a PART, but when he gets close enough the A-R-T will suddenly snap around and crush him, revealing itself to be a TRAP. HERO has to find an S so that he can STRAP it down in order to cross safely.
- Easter Egg: Certain words won't help you progress, but they will still produce effects that last as long as you're alive. For example, RAVE will produce flashing lights and music.
- Eternal Engine: Part of Chapter Two seems to be a junkyard example, with piles of unused letters littering the background.
- Hellhound: Though they don't really look like dogs, GARMR and FENRIR are both named after ones from Norse Mythology
- Helpful Mook: LIE mooks are too small and weak to actually hurt HERO and will flee from him on sight (unless they are fueling PROPAGANDA). They are only able to change any formed word into its opposite (OPEN into CLOSE, YES into NO, etc.) which is useful for solving puzzles.
- Last Lousy Point: You're informed every time you discover a new word, so completionists might be driven to discovering every word it's possible to make in the game's dictionary.
- Minecart Madness: The early parts of the game are littered with immovable carts and rails.
- Mooks: Negative words such as HATE, FEAR and DOOM will form into enemies that will pursue HERO.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Downplayed. HERO unwittingly turns ON FENRIR, thus setting off the final boss fight between him and GARMR.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Mooks will kill HERO in one hit, except for FEAR, who will kill in two, and LIE, which can't hurt HERO at all.
- Shmuck Bait: At several points, you get a machine that produces however many of specific letters that you want. Including a HATE mook that will destroy any new letters that come out of the machine, rendering that puzzle unwinnable. In general, creating the Mook words HATE, DOOM, FEAR, etc. is a bad idea.
- You can also create the word DEATH. Which will instantly kill HERO.
- Not to mention when HERO tries to reach for a PART, it may flip down on you to reveal it's actually a TRAP. The same thing happens with the word LIVE later, in the middle of a section where "positive" words create a barrier against (and heal you from the effects of) FEAR.
- Stealth Pun: Given the game's nature, it's not surprising that it's absolutely chock-full of them:
- In the climax, as HERO is fighting FENRIR, GARMR rains down missiles in the shape of the letter A. In other words, he's firing literal A-bombs.
- During Chapter Two, when the LIE is introduced, the HERO will run into a miniboss in the form of one such creature controlling an enormous PROPAGANDA machine. In other words, lies fuel propaganda.
