In the top-down real-time RPG Hero II: The Search for the Stone, the hero (the player) has been summoned by high commissioner Argolak to immediately appear before King Phaesus. The king gives the player the mission to retrieve the gem of far seeing. The gem was stolen by the mad priest Alazar and so far 20 knights have tried to get it but all of them have disappeared.
Before the player can start to play, a character must be created or loaded from disk. A character is created by letting the computer randomly generate values for: Physical, Mental, Toughness, Agility, Persona, Gold, Life points, Protection and Magic points. The game interface consists of three areas: the dungeon is to the left, to the upper right is the command menu and to the lower right is the status display. Once the player has spoken to the king and stocked up he/she must venture into the labyrinth that leads to Alazar. Killing monsters will reward the player with experience points and gold.
The player is free to return to the shop area whenever he/she wants to spend his/her hard earned gold on supplies and better equipment. If two players play, they have to be careful since they can hurt each other.
The shareware version came with a pre-designed labyrinth. Upon paying the shareware fee the player got a version that could load and play any dungeon created with Dungeon Construction Set.
