Black & White 2 is a game that blends real-time strategy, city building and god game elements.
The concept of the game is that the player is a god, called from heaven to help those who invoked them. However, the player is not an omnipotent monotheistic style god, but rather a god who rises and falls with his believers and the player must help develop their nature according to the their good or evil desires. The player also has a creature, their physical representation in the world, which takes the form of an anthropomorphic cow, lion, ape or wolf and, with an unlocker, a tiger. It can grow to an immense size, and adopt a good or evil persona separate of the player's. Creatures help the player in most of the player's decisions and represent the player's god.
In addition to the god simulation and city-building elements of the original Black & White, Black & White 2 also features elements of Real-Time Strategy gameplay, with the addition of controllable warfare and fighting units.
The creature choices include the lion, wolf, cow, ape and tiger. All of these are available to play, except for the tiger which is only included with the pre-ordered or collector's/special edition of the game. The tiger is also available in the Battle of the Gods expansion pack, as well as the new armor-plated turtle. The Tiger (in the collector's/special edition of the game) can be spotted behind the other four creatures during creature selection. Contrary to popular belief, the tiger is always available, provided the player has used the unlocker in the collectors edition.
Each tribe at some stage owns a creature, much like you. As the game progresses, the enemies' creatures increase in strength, and their size correlates with that of your creature. The Norse tribe own a somewhat evil wolf, the Japanese own a tiger and the Aztecs a gorilla. In the expansion, Battle of the Gods, the gorilla is pulled from its resting place albeit with decomposing flesh.