Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a platform game in which the player controls Ty, a Tasmanian tiger, who must gather 72 "thunder eggs" in order to power the "talisman machine", a teleportation device that will locate all five talismans, which will in turn have the power to free his family from the Dreamtime. The game takes place in "Rainbow Cliffs", which is in turn divided into a series of "zones", each of which act as the hub areas of the game. Each zone contains three portals, each of which lead to a level.The goal of each level is to obtain a select amount of thunder eggs, which can be retrieved by either performing a certain task, completing a "Time Attack" challenge that can be unlocked upon said level's completion, freeing five bilbies, a group of animals who raised Ty after his parents were imprisoned, or by being found alongside the level's set path. A level is cleared by collecting a select amount of thunder eggs and reaching the end of the path, which returns Ty to Rainbow Cliffs. Retrieving a thunder egg in a level will cause it to appear on the game's pause menu. When at least seventeen thunder eggs in a zone are obtained, the player must navigate their way to the talisman machine; after the machine manages to locate a talisman, it opens another portal leading to their original locations; inside these portals, the player must fight and defeat a boss character before gaining access to a new zone.
The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Ty is attacked by an enemy or falls from a great distance. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the "Game Over" screen will appear, in which the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "yes". Ty has the ability to jump into the air and uses both biting and throwing boomerangs as his primary means of defense. The boomerangs are return boomerangs. The player begins the game with a generic boomerang, but can gradually increase their collection by collecting fifteen "Golden Cogs" scattered throughout each level and trading them into scientist koala character Julius, who in turn creates a new "techno-rang" for the player to use; another method of retrieving a new boomerang is to complete a boss level, after which Julius will harness the excess energy of the talisman machine in order to create a new "elemental 'rang", each of which possess elemental powers that can be used to gain access to a new zone. Like elemental 'rangs, each techno-rang possesses a unique ability, and can alternatively be used to defeat enemies or retrieve golden cogs or thunder eggs more efficiently. In early levels of the game, Ty can swim in water via dog paddle; however, following the third level, "Ship Rex", the player gains the abilities to swim faster and more efficiently and to dive and swim underwater from lifeguard platypus character Rex; in addition, Rex gives the player an "Aquarang", a boomerang exclusively used for attacking underwater.
Characters:
The titular protagonist and player character is Ty, a heroic Tasmanian Tiger. The main antagonist is Boss Cass, a cassowary who plots to become a dictator by using the five talismans. Ty's love interest is Shazza, a female dingo. Helping Ty on his journey is Maurie, a sulphur-crested cockatoo who acts as Ty's mentor figure; Julius, a koala scientist who helps Ty find the talismans; Ken, a Tasmanian devil and park ranger interested in nature; and Dennis, a cowardly green tree frog. The boss characters include Bull, a boar who later becomes Ty's companion; Crikey, a cybernetic tiger shark; Sly, another Tasmanian Tiger and Ty's Blood Brother; Fluffy, a thorny devil who controls her large Yeti robot; and Shadow, a ghost bat.