The aim is to rebuild the central town in each chapter, and by ringing the Builder's Bell the player can increase the Base's Level (to a maximum of 4). Much like its predecessor, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a single-player sandbox action role-playing game, with building and construction a key focus of its gameplay. The player and Malroth must bring the world back to its former glory by introducing the concept of Building back to the other islands and defeat the Children of Hargon.
The player takes the role of a Builder rescued by a mysterious boy named Malroth from the ocean and transported to the Isle of Awakening, a place void of civilization. Just as the first game takes place in an alternate reality of the original Dragon Quest, this installment takes place in an alternate realm of Dragon Quest II, in which Hargon raises a cult known as the Children of Hargon, designed to discourage building and cooking, and to ban worshiping of the Goddess under penalty of death. The male version of the main character of Dragon Quest Builders 2, as seen on the back of the case.