The 10 best ‘Tomb Raider’ games, ranked

Lara Croft has been raiding tombs before many of you were born, and she’s still going strong to this day. The British video game icon debuted in the 32-bit era, where it was unusual to have a woman as the lead in a game, but instantly became a cultural force to be reckoned with.

Aside from the many, many Tomb Raider games there are movies, animated shows, a rollercoaster, escape rooms, comics, and novels. Tomb Raider fans are one of the most passionate, committed, and friendly fanbases around and they eat well when it comes to content. But the foundation of Lara’s multimedia empire will always be the video games.

So, squeeze yourself into some booty shorts, reload your dual pistols, and prepare to push some endangered species towards extinction, as we delve into the ten best Tomb Raider games.

10. Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008)

After the disastrous Angel of Darkness original Tomb Raider developers Core Design were shuffled off the franchise in favor of Crystal Dynamics. They produced some solid but not exceptional titles, with 2008’s Tomb Raider: Underworld seeing Lara on a quest to discover Mjolnir.

It’s a fun adventure with some neat locations and – thankfully – jettisoned some of the quick time events of the previous games. But the combat is generally wonky and the camera system feels like a throwback to a much earlier era of gaming.

9. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (2010)

Most Tomb Raider games are third-person action adventures, but the franchise isn’t afraid to branch out a little. One of the best experiments was the delectable Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, an isometric co-op focused puzzle game in which Lara teams up with the Mayan warrior Totec.

It’s a fast, fluid, and satisfying experience, especially if you tackle the game with a buddy in local multiplayer. Guardian of Light was followed by The Temple of Osiris in 2014, but the expansion to four players diluted the purity of the two-player puzzling. This can be had for dirt cheap on practically every platform and is well worth an afternoon’s play with a friend.

8. Tomb Raider: Legend (2006)

Angel of Darkness was such a disappointment it could have killed Tomb Raider for good. The enormously hyped sequel was buggy, frustrating, and felt half-finished (dedicated fans would spend years modifying the game into a broadly enjoyable state). This left 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend with some big boots to fill.

This slightly reworked and redesigned Lara stepped into them perfectly. The gameplay was a smart evolution of the Core Design formula, the story of hunting down Excalibur was interesting, and the more modern controls were a godsend.

7. Tomb Raider III: The Adventures of Lara Croft (1998)

Imagine if a new Uncharted or The Last of Us game was released each year for five years? Well, Tomb Raider fans didn’t have to, as from 1996 to 2000 Core Design released a fresh Lara Croft adventure each year. This relentless development would eventually burn the studio out, but not before releasing some stone-cold classics.

Tomb Raider III is one of their best. This entry saw a graphical update involving more complex level geometry and a wider variety of levels (and costumes for Lara). Unfortunately, this also came with a substantial increase in difficulty and, while it plays fine, I don’t think I’d ever beat it without a walkthrough or save-scumming. It’s a classic, but be prepared for pain.

6. Lara Croft GO (2015)

This enormously underrated mobile classic came as part of Square Enix Montreal’s short-lived “GO” franchise (both Hitman Go and Deus Ex GO are also). This converts Tomb Raider into a turn-based puzzle game in which Lara must navigate enemy and trap-filled maps. Each element moves when Lara does, creating a series of clockwork worlds for you to leap, blast, and sneak through.

All that, and it looks incredible. This came out of nowhere for me and, thankfully, there’s a Steam port so it won’t be lost to the graveyard of forgotten apps.

5. Tomb Raider (1996)

Time may have tarnished the first Tomb Raider‘s graphical luster, but it remains an incredible game. I can vividly remember playing it for the first time in 1996 on PC and being dazzled by Lara’s animation, the acrobatic gunplay, and the incredible ambience within the levels.

Future games would crank up the intensity, but I love the lonely and slightly oppressive first entry with almost no other humans in the levels. Also, there are surprise dinosaurs. Who doesn’t love surprise dinosaurs!?

4. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)

The final entry in the rebooted Tomb Raider series is the worst one, but it’s still pretty great. Lara believes she’s triggered an ancient Mayan apocalypse and must wreak bloody havoc through countless enemies to stop it. There are more open-world elements to this entry and, as such, it feels a little bloated in comparison to the previous two.

That said, the moment (see above) in which a very very angry Lara rises from a flaming pool with murder on her mind and proceeds to go full Jason Voorhees on the baddies is extremely cool.

3. Tomb Raider II (1997)

Core Design was riding high when making Tomb Raider II. They polished what worked in the first game and added several fun new elements. That confidence is on display in ambitious levels like the Great Wall, Venice (the dilapidated opera house is a fantastic location), and on into the towering and complex Temple of Xian.

My highlight are the Maria Doria levels, which begin with Lara floating in the inky blackness of the deep sea (with sharks!) and see her exploring an upturned shipwreck on the ocean floor. Tomb Raider arguably still hasn’t equaled that spooky ruinous atmosphere to this day.

2. Tomb Raider (2013)

This much-hyped reboot of the franchise set out to make Lara a more psychologically realistic heroine. As the game begins she’s injured and scrabbling to stay alive, with her adventure gradually toughening her up until she’s a terrifying avatar of death. You can argue that the 2013 game is effectively an Uncharted reskin, but it’s a lot of fun and breathed new complexity into Lara.

Plus the bit where she gets a grenade launcher and the enemies freak out is *chef’s kiss*.

1. Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015)

The highlight of the reboot trilogy and the best game the franchise has to offer. Rise is a graphical delight (the frosty environments look genuinely chilly), the stealth and action gameplay is buttery smooth, and the story is compelling. I also became mildly addicted to the Expeditions mode, in which you can explore various custom scenarios with fun modifiers.

But the best part is the ‘Challenge Tombs’, which present some chewy spatial puzzles. As usual, Lara is happiest poking through an old pile of bones and dodging traps, and she’s at her best here.

Let’s hope it’s not too long before a new game is unveiled and Lara returns on modern hardware. We need Croft back!