LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure continues the players' journey through the Indiana Jones universe with "LEGO-fied" characters. This time, the main focus is on the events of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , with three campaigns retelling the story in a humorous, light-hearted way similar to other games in the LEGO series .
The game itself is a third-person platform/action game where players take control over various heroes, including Indiana Jones and side-characters. Each character has unique abilities, fears, and weapons. For example, Indiana Jones has his whip to pull items out of reach or constrain enemies with, while his son Mutt is a skilled repairman.
Instead of having a central hub that characters return to after each mission, the game's story and locations move forward simultaneously. The player's hub changes over time, from the university campus to the dig-site in South America, unlocking new areas and vehicles as they progress through the game.
A great deal of items can be collected by destroying scenery objects, building stuff, and other activities, and these items are needed to unlock secret levels. Characters need to be unlocked multiple times to access these secrets, requiring several playthroughs of the same level to complete the game 100%.
The game features an editor to create unique heroes from parts and a new level editor where players can spawn and place items in-game. The two-player co-op mode returns, allowing two players to play through the whole game with the ability to move freely around each other's characters, changing character views depending on direction.