In the game, the player controls a single nation across five centuries, managing its economy, military, political alliances, scientific development, exploration and colonization, religious affairs, and internal stability.

In addition, yearly random events, as well as hundreds of pre-scripted ones based on the historical record, make for a great deal of gameplay challenge and variety.

Europa Universalis II differs from many similar turn-based strategy games in that time flows continuously during gameplay, rather than taking place in discrete turns.

The player is able to pause the action to ponder the situation and give orders, then speed up or slow down time to let events take their course.

While the Grand Campaign is geared primarily towards the major European powers of the time, such as Austria, England, France, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Ottoman Empire, the game is unique in that players can choose to play as one of more than a hundred obscure, no longer existing nations, from the Indian subcontinent to the Balkans.