The player plays a wanderer that explores the world and fights mutant creatures and hostile forces as they advance through the story.

The player character can run, jump, sprint, climb, swim, and can equip various vehicles to move around in the world.

As the player character interacts with the world and the story, they earn experience points which increases their level and improves their combat stats.

Tower of Fantasy supports co-op play where up to 4 players on the same server can team up to play together to explore the world, complete general or multiplayer-specific missions, or fight world bosses, and PvP where players can challenge each other to duels in open-world combat, or fight in an arena mode called Apex League to advance up a leaderboard to obtain special rewards.

Meanwhile, life on the planet gradually mutates into increasingly aggressive and powerful lifeforms that pose a dangerous threat to the survivors.

The player wakes up in the Astra Shelter outpost in the presence of its leader Zeke and his sister Shirli, with no recollection of their past.