Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a side-scrolling action game in which players design and draw their own platform-hopping heroes, using the Wii Remote. As in the original Nintendo DS Drawn to Life game, players create their character by drawing an outline, adding color, and using guidelines to mark off the arms, legs, torso, and head, so that the hero may be properly animated in action. In The Next Chapter, players can also add game-world objects by drawing them directly on the screen, creating ramps and trampolines to help characters on their way (as in the Nintendo DS game, Kirby: Canvas Curse). To equip their heroes for the game's many challenges, players can design and draw more than 100 useful objects, as well, including weapons, vehicles, and tools.

A stifling shadow has fallen over the village of the good Raposa people, and in order to free them from the darkness, a brave hero must travel the world to find the Artifacts of Power. In order to meet this challenge, heroes must jump and puzzle their way through multiple environments, including a dangerous jungle, a land above the clouds, and a city of shadows. In addition to the story-driven single-player campaign, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter's multiplayer modes feature sports-inspired mini-games, in which players can create their own teammates, and draw custom soccer, hockey, and basketball equipment for them to use in competition.