Sound, saves, the leaderboard, the two versions, and where Charlie runs.
In the app on iPhone and iPad, Charlie follows Silent mode (the Ring/Silent switch or the Action button), so your own music can keep playing: turn Silent mode off and turn the volume up. Then check Game Settings: Sound is the master switch, and Voices and Music have their own.
On the website, use the Sound, Voices and Music switches in Game Settings. Browsers only start sound once you’ve tapped or pressed a key on the page.
Yes. Switch Voices off (Game Settings, or the app’s pause card) and the speech bubbles stay up as subtitles. The app’s Game Settings also has a Subtitle size.
For the other sounds, turn on Sound captions (the app’s Game Settings, next to Subtitle size; the website’s Game Settings → Controls): short captions like [smoke alarm], [sirens] or [honk] appear where the sound comes from, or at the edge of the screen with an arrow when it’s off screen. In the app it starts on if your device’s closed captions are on.
Yes. Turn on Danger patterns (the app’s Game Settings; the website’s Game Settings → Controls): a zone about to go off gets light hatching, a dashed outline and a warning mark, a zone that hurts gets thick cross-hatching and a solid outline, and puddles get dashed lines. In the app it starts on if your device’s Differentiate Without Color is on; on the website, if your browser asks for more contrast.
Yes: turn on the Audio Guide (the app’s Game Settings, where it’s on while VoiceOver runs; the website’s Game Settings → Controls). Wear headphones. A beacon blips from the way to the next toy, stop or door, around the walls: left, centre or right in your ears, with a second note that rises if it’s up the screen and falls if it’s down, higher and faster as you get close. A two-note warning comes from trouble about to land, a buzz while Charlie stands in it (move away from it), each character has a sound of their own, and Charlie thuds into walls.
For “Where am I?” (the room, health, the next goal and which way, the nearest danger), use VoiceOver’s two-finger double tap in the app, the G key, or a controller’s View / Create button.
Yes: stars, best scores, Golden Dog Bones and Diamond Dog Bones, your longest Survival run, the Side Sniffs you’ve done, your Scrapbook, your Wardrobe (the bandanas you’ve unlocked and the one Charlie wears) and your Controls are saved as you play.
In the app they sync through your iCloud between iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, and add up (the better score wins; Golden and Diamond Dog Bones, sniffs, Scrapbook moments and bandanas combine). On the website they’re saved in that browser on that device.
No. On the same iPhone or iPad, the new version brings your stars, best scores, Golden Dog Bones and longest run across by itself when it first opens, keeping whichever is better, plus your settings and Top Dogs name if you hadn’t set new ones. If it can’t read the old data the first time, it tries again the next time you open it. Game Center also catches up the achievements your progress already shows.
Win without taking a single hit. One or two hits gives two stars, more gives one, and a hit still counts if you heal afterwards. In Hamptons Discount Realty (Mission 12) it’s about the buyers: three stars when nobody storms out and Charlie isn’t hit. Charlie’s Guide has tips for every mission.
Win the one before it, with any number of stars. Mission 1 is always open.
They’re the game’s currency. Every Dog Bone Charlie picks up goes in his wallet (a Golden Dog Bone is worth 10 and a Diamond Dog Bone 100), and the Bone Shop in the Wardrobe trades them for bandanas he hasn’t earned yet. A bandana traded for is his for good, and one he earns by playing is still free. Nothing costs money: Dog Bones are only ever earned.
There are 20 Golden Dog Bones, all in Free Roam Mode (Charlie’s Day), spread over the apartment, the lobby, Park Avenue, Aunty’s penthouse, the garage and the beach house, and 5 Diamond Dog Bones, the rarest, hidden in the open city’s hardest-to-reach corners. Each counts once, ever. Charlie’s Guide has hints, and the exact spots behind a spoiler.
In Mission Mode every seventh Dog Bone that turns up in a mission is a Golden Dog Bone too, worth more points.
The game plays itself: Charlie lives a whole week on autopilot while everyone around him has a terrible time. It starts as soon as you press it; change the Speed (5 is Highlights: the quiet parts fast-forward and the big moments play in full) and the Excitement with the − and + buttons while you watch. The days run straight into each other with nothing to press; pause and pick “ Today so far” for the day’s highlights. Nothing can hurt Charlie in Auto Play Mode.
One Survival walk a day, the same for everyone: the same streets, the same hoomans and the same luck, on the website and in the app, with its own board for the day. A new walk starts at midnight New York time. You get one counted walk a day on this device: the first one you start counts (leaving it early uses it up), and every walk after it that day is practice, never posted. If your score couldn’t be sent (no connection, or no name yet), Daily Walk keeps it and you can send it until the next midnight in New York, even after you’ve started the next day’s walk.
Top Dogs (and Game Center’s Survival boards, the longest run and the Daily Walk) are Park Avenue Panic only, so everyone on them played the same place. Park Panic and Beach Panic keep your personal best for each place instead: you’ll see it in the Survival chooser and on the result card (in the app it follows you to your other devices through iCloud).
A name needs 2 to 16 characters: letters (any language), numbers, spaces and. ’ _ -!, and it has to be family-friendly. Names are public, so please use a nickname rather than your full name.
Tap ⚑ next to it: it disappears from your board straight away and is reported. When several players report a name it’s removed for everyone. You can also email support@caldrion.com.
Charlie comes in an R version (crude, sweary, dark jokes) and a clean PG version. The website and the app both start in R.
Version: R / PG in Game Settings switches to the PG version (and back), and your choice is remembered on that device.
No. It isn’t made for children: it starts in the R version (swearing, crude jokes, dark humor) and Grandpa drinks and smokes all day, so the app is rated for adults on the App Store. The PG version is cleaner, but it’s still not for kids.
Yes. Charlie is a real mini Australian Shepherd on Park Avenue, and the people around him are affectionate caricatures of real family and friends, who agreed to be in it. The jokes are about what they do, never who they are.
The app runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later), Mac (macOS 14 or later) and Apple TV (tvOS 17 or later, with the Siri Remote or a game controller), from one App Store listing, and Charlie for Apple Watch (watchOS 10 or later) comes with it: Charlie to pet, his tricks, Catch the treats and a complication for your watch face. The website, gdaycharlie.com, runs in any modern browser, with touch, a keyboard or a game controller.
No and no. Charlie is free, with no in-app purchases, no ads and no accounts. A score only goes on Top Dogs if you choose to put it there.
Yes: in the app, Xbox, PlayStation and MFi controllers; on the website, any controller your browser supports. A / ✕ is Zoomies, Y / △ Puppy Eyes, X / □ Herd Bark, the shoulder buttons zoom, and Menu / Options pauses. Those are the usual buttons: Controls (in Game Settings) moves any action to another button.
Anonymous play statistics (no name, no email, no location), and the nickname and score you choose to put on Top Dogs. The website also uses analytics. The app’s iCloud and Game Center data is Apple’s, and we never see it. The whole story is in the privacy policy.
Email support@caldrion.com.