Save the Doge is the first installment of a popular drawing-and-skill-based series that features physics rules and play that matches Save My Pets and Protect My Dog. The player's goal is to protect a Doge Shiba Inu head, from Doge cryptocurrency and memes, or other pets and animals from dangerous scenarios across 30 levels.
The player must draw a black, pencil-line barrier around a head or heads to prevent a pest from stinging the animal. The barrier can also protect the animal from round boulders, fizzy acid pools and metal spikes. That said, if the player doesn't draw a continuous line, allows gaps, or ignores gravity, bees and other pests can break through or sneak past the barrier. The animal might also die from impact with a falling object or by dropping onto a trap.
Save the Doge offers stars and coins based on the player's ability to draw the barrier faster than a yellow horizontal line next to a pencil icon. The dog or other animal must also survive within the barrier for a specific amount of time displayed on a stopwatch in the upper-right area.
If the player makes a mistake, they can reload the scene for free. They can also receive a tip or collect a missing star or stars by watching an advertisement.
The game allows the player to use their dog bone coins to swap the animal heads from the Doge to another dog, a cat, a pig, a monkey, a panda or a cow. They can also swap pests from the initial bees to bumble bees, mosquitoes, honey bees and even an alien!