Trine 2 is the sequel to the action puzzle platformer Trine. It once again stars three characters – Amadeus the wizard, Zoya the thief, and Pontius the knight – who need to work together and use their complimentary skills to progress through levels filled with enemies and physics-based puzzles. The game picks up the story when the trine is rediscovered and brings the three characters back together. It transports them to an unknown world where their progress is overlooked by a mysterious figure referred to as The Witch. Later in the game her true identity and purposes are revealed. The story further involves the Goblin King and his minions, as well as the tale of two sisters who are also princesses.

Just like in the first game players can freely switch between the three characters to tackle the environment-based challenges. The knight is strong and most suited for close combat, the thief is agile and has long-ranged attacks, and the wizard is a feeble character that uses magic to manipulate items. Many of the original abilities are still present. The wizard creates boxes and planks as temporary platforms, the thief uses grapple to cross large gaps, and the knight is able to deflect projectiles with his shield. New abilities are unlocked through a skill tree shared by the characters, and some of the new options allow the wizard to chuck opponents around or for the thief to upgrade her arrows with new enhancements. Skill points are earned by locating vials. There is no longer an inventory with items gathered from treasure chests for additional upgrades. Instead the chests yield poetry that reveal bits of the story.

The game can be played cooperatively with three players each controlling a character simultaneously. This can be done both offline and, new for this sequel, online. When a character dies, it can be revived at the next checkpoint. There are two new gameplay modes that are available right away. There is Game+ that allows players to go through the game again with their fully upgraded characters from the start. The second one is called Unlimited Character Mode and it allows players to assemble a party of any combination of characters, for instance using just three thieves. The game design always offers multiple approaches to over the challenges.