Pangaea is a multiplayer randomly-generated dungeon RPG designed to play like a board game. Nearly all actions in the game are decided by dice rolls, including the monsters fought, the effect of attacks and item use, contents of treasures, and even the layout of the dungeon itself -- entering an unmapped square will start a roll that decides the type of space that goes there.

The player controls a party of up to four adventurers as they explore the different dungeons. The goal is simply to explore until all possible routes are exhausted, while collecting experience and treasure from enemies, and ideally not dying. The player can leave the dungeon through the entrance at any time, but completing a dungeon will award a bonus based on the size of the dungeon. Between dungeons, the player returns to an unnamed town, where items can be bought or sold, wounded characters can be healed, the team can be rearranged, and the game saved or loaded. There are four different classes available: Fighters, who excel at physical combat; Priest / Priestesses, who can heal other characters; Thieves, who have a chance to disarm trap tiles; and Sorcerer / Sorceresses, who have access to magic attacks. Characters of any class can be either male or female, and the player can freely mix and match classes in their party. Each character has their own items, experience, and gold, and cannot share or trade with each other. The game has no story.