Risk of Rain 2 follows a similar approach as the first title, in which one to four players must progress several different levels while killing enemies. On each level the goal is to locate a teleporter, randomly located on the level, once activated, the players must defend themselves from an onslaught of aliens, including boss characters until the teleporter is fully active. Killing aliens gains experience and currency, the currency can be used to purchase various upgrades from automated stations on the level. Upgrades offer a wide range of boosts to the players carrying them, and provide both synergistic effects and the potential to stack to if multiple copies of the same upgrades are acquired.