Teslagrad is a side-scrolling platformer with strong puzzle elements. The protagonist is a boy who finds himself inside the mysterious Tesla Tower , which houses fictional technology inspired by the works of inventor Nikola Tesla. The game communicates without words.
The player moves freely through the tower, exploring its various levels and trying to progress. To overcome obstacles, the player needs to use special abilities to solve puzzles based on magnetic fields: many objects have a magnetic field (red or blue); objects with different colours are attracted to each other while objects of the same colour are repelled. The player has gloves that allow them to change the polarity of objects. As they progress through the game, new abilities and gadgets are unlocked, such as a cannon to change polarity over distances or a short-distance teleport to avoid deadly obstacles.