Thank you! Sorry to hear you had trouble understanding the game. There aren't many mechanics as of the jam's state of the game; you can capture monsters by clicking on them with the mouse, and they're sent back to your ranch. Interacting with the magical book at the ranch will show you the shop, where you can unlock new areas and get familiars. New mechanics will be coming in updates soon :)
Viewing post in Cosmic Ranchers (Jam Version) jam comments
This actually helped me better understand the game. Once I understood how to interact with the book, I got to unlock the two other gates and had two familiars :) Would definitely enjoy playing this with future updates! Especially if I can release some of the creatures I captured early on, as I unlock new territories. Thank you for taking the time to reply to me :)