Yami no Ryū Kishi is a Japanese-style role-playing game based on the setting and themes of the card game Monster Maker and its subsequent table RPG incarnation. The player takes control of a young girl named Raia, who finds out that she belongs to the race of half-elves. Blamed for attacks on her village, she is expelled from her homeland and sets off on a journey to find out the truth about her origins.

The game follows the traditional template of the genre and has top-down overworld navigation, towns and dungeons, party management, simple leveling-up, weapons and armor to equip, and randomly appearing enemies that engage the party in turn-based combat viewed from first-person perspective. Magic can be bought in shops, though some characters come with pre-learned spells. Later in the game the player gains the ability to communicate with monsters and summon them during battles.