Darwinia stands out for its visual style. The indie project is made using deliberately low-poly graphics in a retro style. It's reminiscent of effects from old sci-fi movies. The game itself mixes real-time strategy with action. It also has puzzle elements.

The title takes gamers into the digital world, which is called “Darwinia”. It was created by Dr. Sepulveda. He populated an alternate reality with intelligent life (Darwinians) and then began conducting tours there. This dimension, which exists inside the fictional Protologic 68000 computers, was once infected with viruses. In the story, the gamer helps a researcher clean up his virtual reserve. He is given different programs that improve as he progresses. To get upgrades, you need to collect pieces of code scattered across the maps. The campaign consists of different missions. They can be completed in any order. There are no usual saves, but this RTS remembers which tasks the user has already completed. Therefore, the main progress is not lost.

The game has non-standard controls. Here you need to draw units. If you draw a triangle, soldiers will appear. Spelling the letter P will create engineers. Besides them, there are also ordinary Darwinians, who can be armed with lasers or grenades, officers, stationary installations, and infantry fighting vehicles. During battles, the user controls squads (only one squad is allowed to lead at a time), which can accommodate 3-6 creatures. They can be equipped with different trunks. Destroyed units leave behind souls. If you collect them and take them to the incubator, the fallen soldiers can be reborn. An indie title has buildings. They can neither be built nor destroyed. The buildings are represented by incubators, main ports, control towers, communication stations and birth points.