A professor in a search for intelligent life makes contact...with you. Communicating with him through the Nintendo DS, he asks for your help! He and his assistant, Terry, have crash-landed on an unknown island, and the professor needs to make repairs to his ship. Subtly guide Terry around the island (and later on, the world!) to help them both.
Contact is a role-playing game with a difference. The professor from the game is aware of your presence, but his assistant, Terry, is not. You indirectly control Terry by moving him around the game world and issue commands to him. Every action that Terry makes has a corresponding statistic, and these can be levelled up by using them frequently. Run everywhere, and Terry's speed will increase. Take damage, and while your health will decrease, your stamina will increase, allowing you to take more hits. Steal items and your thievery skills will increase, and so on.
The game also supports the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Swap Friend Codes with other people, and when you connect to their game on the Internet, you'll be able to exchange data, as well as send an NPC version of your character into their copy of the game.