Little Cave Hero blends RPG elements by sending the player’s little hero out into the caves to complete missions. Players start the game being informed that their existing town was destroyed and that they need to rebuild it.
Players can construct farms, quarries and carpentries, as well as social buildings like a town square. The social element to gameplay comes from inviting your friends to populate farms and assist the king in a number of quests.
Core gameplay comes from exploring caves that are arranged by grids of squares. Clicking a square clears that portion of the cave, players gain experience points and in-game currency at the cost of energy per square clicked. Caves also feature monsters and a single treasure chest.
The objective is to get to the treasure chest using the least amount of energy. The treasure chest provides you a score card and rewards you on your performance. Caves become increasingly complex as players unlock new ones to explore by completing simple “rescue the princess” or “find the treasure” quests.