Tomb Explorer is a desktop game in the same vein as Minesweeper or Chip's Challenge. Your goal is to find the golden treasure chest at the end of each level, while collecting treasures and avoiding obstacles along the way. In this game, you don't have a character to control, but all interaction is done by clicking on tiles. Tiles can be obstacles, triggers or items, and progress depends on finding items or using triggers, sometimes in combinations, to remove the obstacles.

You can interact with some obstacles and triggers just by clicking on them without any item requirements, such as doors and levers. Others will require specific items to pass, such as a green key to unlock a green door, a lantern to light a torch, or a hammer to break down cracked walls. If you have the required item to pass a certain obstacle, it will be used automatically when you click on that obstacle. Some items may only be used once, but other items can be used throughout the level.

Some levels include a countdown timer, meaning you have a limited amount of time to complete the level. If the timer runs out, you lose.

Once you've finished a level, you have a chance at achieving a high score. Your finishing score is effected by a number of elements, but the two primary ways to increase your score are to get through the level as quickly as possible, and find as much treasure as possible along the way. You can also get bonus points for clicking on the golden treasure chest quickly after you spot it, and by collecting 100% of the treasures on a level.

The availability of levels to explore is only limited by the number of levels that people have created. Using the Tomb Editor, you can create your own levels and share them with the world.