The game has various different accounts of gameplay from missions to a mini-game type system. The player plays the game through a sequence of 9 chapters as a farm animal of his/her choosing. An extra farm animal could be unlocked from having Nickelodeon games at the time that were included in the 'Crossover' event. As the player progressed through the chapters in the game, he/she met new characters, unlocked new areas, got more in-game currency etc. The player went around the Barnyard and either explored the area the game has to offer or followed the story and completed the missions by going to the barn animal that sent him/her a text to his/her phone. He/She could find these characters by looking for, and following the quickest path to, the '!' on the map. As the player continued through the chapters, the game continued increasing in variety as well. There are a lot of in-game movie references as well including dialogue from the characters and certain in-game objects. As the player got to the mid-part of the game, however, he/she lost the same playable character, Ben, that is lost in the movie. As the player got to the end of the game, specifically Chapter 8, things only get worse as the leader of the Barnyard, Otis, runs off and he/she are put in charge. However, the tides suddenly turn as the player, the other animals, and Otis take one final stand against the final boss. Note that depending on the chapter he/she in, there would be either more or less missions than the previous chapter.
Missions
Within the game there is a storyline which fits the movie to some extent but still goes along its own path. Characters die and are introduced as the game progresses as in the movie. Missions fit the storyline of the game and the movie and vary a lot. A lot of missions once completed become minigames which the player can play again. Missions can be started by simply talking to the characters once he/she located them. Most of the in-game missions are done during the day and must be done by the time the timer runs out, but some of them are nighttime missions that need to be completed by morning.
Mini-games
Mini-games most often become available after completing missions but may also become available in the barn. The missions vary in many ways from Golf to Jumping and Kicking a pipe at one another to stay alive. Throughout the game, the player may notice that the difficulty of some of the mini-games would increase as the story progresses. There were also variations of mini-games from previous chapters. One example being 'Tease The Mailman' and 'Tease Mrs. Beady'. The player could also buy some of the mini-games from the Gopher Underground Shop as some of them are located in the Night Barn. As he/she got into the game, he/she would be told about the 'Barnyard Champion' Title throughout. At the end of all the mini-games the player noticed that he/she got graded on his/her performance. The Grades range from an 'F' to a Star. Getting Stars is the key to getting Barnyard Champion. The player needed to talk to a character mentioned in the game that would give you info on the standings for Barnyard Champion. As the player kept climbing to the top of the leaderboard, he/she received a Gold Rush Token for every time he/she move up. Once he/she got to #1, a special text is received, indicating that he/she was now the Barnyard Champion. After the player got this text, a special cutscene would play once he/she entered the Night Barn for the first time after receiving the text.
The Barn
During the day, the barn is a boring place where the player could acquire some resources for cooking but, at night, the barn becomes a lively place where he/she could party, make Mocktails and play minigames. The barn is very customisable through the Gopher Underground Shop, a shop mentioned in an early Chapter 1 mission that is located just outside the main area. When the player got to this point in the game, he/she received just the right amount of Gopher Bucks for the only item available for his/her first visit. After this mission, all the other objects become unlocked except for the Neon Dance Floor and he/she eventually started buying stuff there more often and begun doing missions for the head person for the Gopher Underground Shop.
Collections
Within the game there are many forms of objects to collect; Secrets: Are notes hidden in trees and fences with tips for the game Recipe Rocks: Provide recipes for the Kitchen at the back of the barn and the Mocktail bar within the bar Recipes can be guessed but require a lot of resources to do so as there are many recipes and ingredients. Gold Rush Tokens: Gold Rush Tokens can be collected and placed in coin dispensers so that they can get Gopher Bucks for the Gopher Underground Shop. Royal Jelly: In the game, there is a secret object that some players don't know about called Royal Jelly. It can be obtained sometimes by getting every bit of honey out of all 3 beehives in the Walnut Woods area. The player knows if he/she's going to get the Royal Jelly if the usual yellow circle displayed on the top of the screen begins flashing red. Even then, he/she may not get it because it's such a rare item. It can be eaten or sold at the Gopher Underground Shop.
