Takeshi and Hiroshi is a visual/adventure game about two brothers and their relationship, and videogames. Takeshi, a high school student, acts like a father-figure to his younger brother, Hiroshi after their father passes away. Hiroshi is often sick but really enjoys playing video games. Takeshi wants to be a game designer when he grows up and has started work on a video game of his own. When Hiroshi asks if he can play the unfinished game, Takeshi can’t say no. He decides that he will play as the villains of the game to make up for the faults in the game’s programming. When Takeshi and Hiroshi begin to play the game, the game changes to the viewpoint that they have while playing the game. The player in the role of Takeshi needs to send enemies towards Hiroshi over the course of five rounds. The trick is that the enemies cannot be too easy or Hiroshi will get bored. But they also cannot be too hard or Hiroshi will be defeated in the game and then sad in real life. 

In the game world, Takeshi must manage Hiroshi’s stress and joy levels. The more stressful a fight is, the more joy Hiroshi will get from it. At the beginning of each time the two brothers play the game, there will be a joy goal for Hiroshi to reach. If Takeshi throws too many or too few enemies at his brother, he will not be able to reach the goal and will need to begin the round again. 

In-between the game sections, the player watches stop motion scenes where the two brothers and the other characters are represented by puppets. You learn more about their relationship and the power video games have for each of them.