Released for desktop web browsers and devices using iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10[1] operating systems, the game has its players route a supply of water to an alligator.

This game was released on Mac OS X devices through the Mac App Store in November 2014 [4] Swampy, an alligator living in a city sewer system, hates being dirty, but whenever he tries to take a bath, Cranky the alligator living in the sewers, disrupts the water flow to Swampy's home.

[6] Players use the touch screen on their device to dig through the dirt and redirect the water towards an inlet leading to Swampy's bathtub.

The poison will remove it, while the ooze will cause it to solidify, creating a rock—and they will react with each other explosively if they touch each other, potentially opening up parts of the level to the benefit or detriment of the player.

[10] The earliest phase of development centered around the concept of the game, which was players using their fingers to guide water to a goal.

was launched with four chapters – "Meet Swampy", "Troubled Waters", "Under Pressure" and "Sink or Swim"—each containing 20 levels.

[8] "Boiling Point", the game's sixth 20-level chapter, was released in a November 2011 update and included levels where players must convert steam into liquid water.

[12] In December 2011, "Stretched Thin" was released to both platforms, adding 20 new levels, a Christmas overlay for the title screen and new water balloon obstacles.

[13] "Caution to the Wind", a new 20-level chapter, was launched in March 2012, adding fans and vacuums that move water and other game elements around the level.

[14] In April 2012, "Rising Tide" was added, which introduced valves that can redirect water and the other fluids as needed to complete the chapter's 20 levels.

[15] June 2012 saw the release of "Out to Dry", which included levels involving wet mud that sets into dirt.

The gameplay in "Cranky's Story" is basically the same as the main game, in that players must route a fluid to an inlet goal.

[19] However, this time the player must help Cranky by bringing the purple poisonous water into his lair to melt algae that is covering his food.

This time, the ducks are now purple and can only be collected by being splashed with poison, while other fluids (including clean water) will kill it.

An all new Food Groups and the third episode "Bulking Up" were released on April 5, 2012 and adds 6 challenges and two bonus stages.

It is a revisit of previous levels from the main game except the player has to deal three special kinds of ducks.

On October 30, as part of the release of Swampy's Underground adventures, 20 more levels were added to Mystery duck.

As with Cranky's Story and Mystery Duck, a one-time in-app purchase is required to play beyond the first five levels.

[22] Mike Thompson of Gamezebo said "anyone who enjoys physics puzzle titles would be out of their mind to miss picking this up".

[7] Chris Reed, writing for Slide To Play, called the game "a highly polished and appealing physics puzzler that nearly everyone can enjoy".

Gamezebo said the graphics "are particularly great, featuring crisp and cartoon-like visuals that look like something out of ... well, out of a Disney cartoon", and IGN said that Swampy "animates wonderfully and always appears incredibly adorable".

[7] Pocket Gamer's Steve McCaskill praised its visual design, stating that it gave "the impression of an interactive cartoon".

: Swampy's Underground Adventures debuted with a teaser August 31, 2012 on the Disney.com website and featured a 12-episode season, each episode running around two minutes.

[5] According to Mark Walker, the senior vice-president of Disney.com, the series would "build out the world and tell Swampy's story and that of other characters".