„Grass Mania: Need For Grass“ is a funny 3D puzzle game. The main character is a cute doggy with a lawnmower which the player has control of. The objective of the game is to cut a certain grassfield in time and without running out of fuel. Each level has unique grassfields in terms of how many and how obstacles such as trees, bushes, stones, etc. are placed. The time and fuel given to mow a grassfield also varies in different levels. Grass Gods exist in the game. From time to time they throw random power-ups and items from the sky which help to complete the levels.

DoggyDog was living a free, peaceful life and was afraid of nothing. Life went perfectly. He was moving from one bush to another, taking care of business, watching the sunrises and sunsets  . . .  well--you know--living a real dog-like life. But what has a beginning always has an end. . . . One day, our DoggyDog got into a real mess! It seems the bushes (mentioned before) were actually owned by GrassTown's people. Oh no! The townsfolk got really angry and were about to call the dogcatchers! This frightened the daylights out of our poor DoggyDog. He cried, howled, and begged the townsfolk for forgiveness. That of course helped, but DoggyDog didn't go scot-free! Now, because of his past mistakes, DoggyDog has to perform public service. He'll have to mow the lawn for every townsmen of GrassTown. Help DoggyDog to mow the lawn or he'll be given away to the heartless dogcatchers!

Start position:

In the beginning of each level, the player is asked to choose a start position. Start positions are numbered, colourful circles surrounding the grass field. The player must be wise when choosing the position, because this will determine the difficulty of the level.

Cutting grass:

Once the start position has been chosen, the character is placed and the player can select which grass squares to cut. To select a square in the field, the player must first move the mouse pointer above the field. When this is done, the mouse pointer turns into a 3D rotating model, called the grass selector. The player can use the mouse to change the position of the grass selector to select different grass squares. When a grass square is selected, it is highlighted one of the following colours:

RED:

If the grass selector becomes red, there is an obstacle in the selected grass square and the player can't mow it.

GRAY:

If the grass selector becomes dark gray, that means the selected grass square is either behind an obstacle which is in the same row or column as the character, or the selected grass square isn't in the same row or column as the character. Thus, the player can only mow grass squares which are in the same row or column as the game character.

WHITE:

When the player is allowed to mow the lawn, the grass selector becomes white. The player can select one or multiple squares and mow them by clicking the left mouse button. By mowing multiple grass squares with one click, the player receives extra points, but this gives a bigger possibility to making a mistake which could result in losing the level.

Winning a level:

The player wins a level if he/she manages to mow all the grass squares without running out of fuel or running out of time. The player loses a small amount of fuel each time he/she moves the lawnmower. There is a fuel indicator on bottom right of the screen which shows how much fuel is left in the lawnmower.

Power-ups:

From time to time, shinning boxes fall from the sky onto the grass field. Those are power-ups. Power-ups are temporary and disappear from the grass field after a certain period of time. The player can pick up a power-up by mowing the grass square in which it resides. Power-ups can give extra points, fuel, time, or lives.

Using power-ups:

Power-ups are stored. That means, once the player has picked up a power-up, he/she can click on its icon (which is placed on the top of the screen) and use it. If the player hasn't used the power-ups he has gathered after completing a level, he can use them in the next level.

Field map:

There is a schematic 2D representation of the grass field on the top right of the screen. The player can use it to get a better understanding obstacles, which grass squares have been cut, where the character is, and where power-ups have appeared.