Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Prince Duckling is an adventure game created with children in mind. The game is an original story inspired by the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen.

Set in Copenhagen during the Golden Age, the Master of Darkness has kidnapped the princess and plans to take over the city. Players control a young Hans Christian Andersen who must rescue the princess and stop the Master of Darkness' evil plans. The journey is filled with characters from Andersen's tales, such as The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl and The Swineherd.

The game is controlled using the keyboard for movement and the mouse for interacting with people and things. For instance, arrow keys move Hans Christian, holding down the Shift key makes him run and the Spacebar is the main action/interaction key.

Whenever Hans Christian turns his head to look at something, that item or area can be actioned in some way. For instance, coins can be found by kicking barrels, boxes or other objects in the screen. He will turn to look at it. Action it (Spacebar) to kick the object and a coin will be ejected from it. Walk over the coin and press the action key again to pick it up.