Unlike most RTS games, in Dungeon Keeper II, you do not control all your monsters on a micro-management level. Creatures have AI to control themselves. You do direct your creatures to a degree, they follow you because they love your dark heart, but you can't arrange them in neat rows and have them march in step at the enemy. You basically drop them near who you want to kill and hope for the best. This is not a game for professional tacticians. There is, however, a really cool feature where you can take over the mind of a creature and use their body in a first-person shooter style interface. If there is a trap giving your creatures trouble, you can take over the body of one of your creatures and use them to destroy the trap they normally would run from. You can also lead your creatures into attack or scout places stealthily. The control of Dungeon Keeper II is interesting and not having to micromanage your creatures gives you the time needed to build a better dungeon.

The main single-player form of Dungeon Keeper II is well laid out. You start with small dungeons, a few options, and easy enemies. As you defeat them and move on, you begin to create larger dungeons, with more traps, spells, rooms, and creatures to control and deal with. The enemies also rise (or is it drop?) to your level as things progress. This is a nice way of ramping players into the swing of things, however, highly experienced RTS players may find themselves bored for the first several levels. There is also a game mode called "My Pet Dungeon" where you construct whatever dungeon you want without time constraints, and then test it with invading heroes at your evil convenience.