Tomb Raider is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. It is the tenth main entry and a reboot of the Tomb Raider series, acting as the first instalment in the Survivor trilogy that reconstructs the origins of Lara Croft. The game was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on 5 March 2013. Gameplay focuses on survival, with exploration when traversing the island and visiting various optional tombs. It is the first game in the main series to have multiplayer and the first game in the series to be published by Square Enix after the latter's acquisition of Eidos Interactive in 2009.
Crystal Dynamics began development of Tomb Raider soon after the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld in 2008. Rather than a sequel, the team decided to reboot the series, re-establishing the origins of Lara Croft for the second time, as they did with Tomb Raider: Legend. Tomb Raider is set on Yamatai, an island from which Lara, who is untested and not yet the battle-hardened explorer she is in other titles in the series, must save her friends and escape while being hunted down by a malevolent cult. Camilla Luddington was hired to voice and perform as Lara Croft, replacing Keeley Hawes.
Tomb Raider received acclaim and is considered by critics to be one of the greatest video games ever made; it received praise for its graphics, gameplay, Luddington's performance as Lara, and Lara's characterization and development, although the addition of a multiplayer mode was criticized. The game sold over 14.5 million units worldwide by October 2021, making it the best-selling Tomb Raider title to date. A remastered version, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, featuring improved graphics, new control features, and downloadable content, was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2014, for Windows in April 2024, and for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 in November 2025. An Android and iOS version was released in February 2026. The game was followed by Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018).
Gameplay Tomb Raider is presented in third-person perspective. Players take control of the series lead character Lara Croft. The game uses an interconnected hub-and-spoke model that combines action-adventure, exploration, and survival elements. Players can traverse between the camps and across the island using footpaths, improvised or already-available ziplines and climbable tracks. Many of Lara's moves are carried over from the previous games created by Crystal Dynamics, with some tweaks added, such as incorporating elements of stealth gameplay. Quick time events are scattered at regular intervals throughout the game, often appearing at crucial or fast-moving points in the game's plot, such as extracting a shard of metal, and escaping a collapsing cave.
The combat of the game borrows multiple elements from Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, with players having the ability to free-aim Lara's bow and the guns she salvages, engage in close-quarter combat and perform stealth kills. Players can use Survival Instinct, an ability in which enemies, collectables and objects pivotal to environmental puzzles will be highlighted. The game incorporates role-playing elements: as players progress through the game, they earn experience points from performing certain actions and completing in-game challenges linked with hunting, exploring and combat: this enables players' skills and abilities to be upgraded in specific ways, such as giving her more storage capacity for arrows and ammunition. Players can upgrade and customize weapons using salvaged materials collected across the island. There is a character progression mechanic in the game: better items, weapons and equipment are gained as players progress, though the appearance of most of these items is closely linked to events in the story. In addition to the main story, players can complete multiple side quests, explore the island, revisit locations, and search for challenge tombs.
Multiplayer Alongside the single-player mode is an online multiplayer mode, which allows players to compete in several maps. In each multiplayer match, there are two enemy teams: four survivors and four scavengers, and there are three types of games for multiplayer to compete in, played in five different maps: the modes are Team Deathmatch, Private Rescue and Cry for Help. The first mode is a player versus player (PvP) combat scenario, with teams pitted against each other, and the winning team being the one to kill the opposing team in three separate matches. In the second mode, the "survivors" team must take medical supplies to a specific point on the map, while the "scavengers" must reach a certain number of kills, both within a ten-minute time limit. The third mode, "Cry for Help", involves the survivors exploring the maps and retrieving batteries for defended radio beacons while being hunted by the scavengers. Across all three modes, weapons and destroyable environments from the single-player campaign are carried over.
Synopsis Setting and characters The game is set on Yamatai, a fictional lost island in the Dragon's Triangle off the coast of Japan. The island—and the kingdom that once existed there—is steeped in myth, given its reputation for fearsome storms and shipwrecks that litter its coastline. Yamatai was once ruled by queen Himiko, known as the "Sun Queen", who, according to legend, was blessed with shamanistic powers that enabled her to control the weather. Little is known about Yamatai's history following Himiko's death, though the island's infamy was established shortly thereafter. In exploring the island, the player may find evidence that—among others—Portuguese traders, United States Marines, and a Japanese military project were all stranded on Yamatai at various points in history.
Throughout the game, Yamatai is presently inhabited by the Solarii Brotherhood, a violent cult of criminals, mercenaries, and shipwreck survivors. The Solarii Brotherhood has established a rigid society based on the worship of Himiko, complete with its own hierarchy and laws, with their exact purpose and intentions gradually revealed throughout the story.
The player controls Lara Croft, a young and ambitious archaeology graduate whose theories on the location of Yamatai's lost kingdom have convinced the Nishimura family—descendants of Yamatai's people themselves—to fund an expedition in search of the kingdom. The expedition is led by Dr. James Whitman, a celebrity archaeologist who has fallen on hard times and is desperate to avoid bankruptcy, and includes Conrad Roth, a former Royal Marine and close friend of the Croft family who serves as Lara's mentor; Samantha "Sam" Nishimura, Lara's friend and documentary filmmaker representing her family's interests; Joslyn Reyes, a pragmatic and short-tempered mechanic and single mother; Jonah Maiava, a friendly but physically imposing fisherman with an open mind toward the supernatural; Angus "Grim" Grimaldi, the gruff helmsman of the Endurance; and Alex Weiss, a goofy electronics specialist.
Plot Lara embarks on her first archaeological expedition aboard the Endurance, intending to find the lost kingdom of Yamatai. By her theory and against Whitman's advice, the crew sails into the treacherous Dragon's Triangle, where the ship is struck by a violent storm and sinks, stranding the survivors on a remote island. Separated from the others, Lara regains consciousness in a cave and narrowly escapes from a deranged savage.
As Lara searches for the other survivors, she discovers more evidence that the island is inhabited. She finds Sam with a man named Mathias, who claims to be a fellow passenger. As Sam tells Mathias the legend of Himiko, Lara falls asleep; when she wakes, both of them have disappeared. After reuniting with the rest of the crew, Lara separates from the group with Whitman to look for Roth, while the others search for Sam and Mathias.
While exploring the island, Lara and Whitman discover that its inhabitants worship Himiko, confirming that the island is indeed Yamatai. The two are captured by the inhabitants and taken to a settlement alongside other Endurance survivors, where an attempted escape turns violent; Lara is separated from Whitman and is forced to kill one of her attackers. She eventually locates an injured Roth, and, with his gear, sets off for a communications relay at the top of a mountain to contact help.
Lara successfully hails a nearby search plane and sets a signal fire, but a supernatural storm suddenly forms and destroys the plane. Although the pilot successfully parachutes to safety, Lara is unable to stop the island's inhabitants from killing him. She is contacted by Alex and Reyes, who reveal that Sam has been abducted by the same inhabitants, revealed to be a hostile cult called the Solarii Brotherhood. Being closest to the location, Lara attempts a rescue but is foiled by Mathias, who is revealed as the cult's leader and orders her killed. However, she is saved by the intervention of a samurai-like "Oni" and taken to an ancient monastery in the mountains.
Escaping again, Lara stumbles upon a ritual chamber where she learns that a ceremonial "fire ritual" is used to choose Himiko's successor as part of the "Ascension". Sam manages to contact Lara and reveals that the Solarii plan to subject her to the ritual, which could kill her if she is deemed an "unworthy" successor. Lara storms the Solarii fortress with Grim's help, but he is killed during the assault. With Roth's help, Lara infiltrates the palace and arrives in time for the ritual. She attempts to save Sam but is overpowered by Mathias and his men. However, the flames do not harm Sam and are extinguished by a sudden gust of wind, marking her as Himiko's rightful successor.
Lara narrowly escapes captivity once more and returns to help the captured crew. With help from Whitman, who has managed to negotiate limited freedom within the Solarii, Lara infiltrates the palace again to save Sam while Roth prepares to extract them via helicopter. Having seen the supernatural storm that downed the previous plane, Lara urges Sam to flee by land and tries to stop the helicopter from taking off, but another storm forms and strikes the helicopter, causing it to crash. Lara nearly dies, and Roth is fatally wounded by Mathias while saving her. Devastated, Lara realizes that the storms are being magically generated to trap people on the island.
Lara reconvenes with the crew, who have avoided capture long enough to secure a boat that can be repaired for their escape. Whitman rejoins them, claiming to have escaped captivity, though Lara suspects him of working with the cultists. She heads to the wreck of the Endurance to search for Alex, who had gone to salvage the necessary repair tools. Lara finds him pinned under debris, but Alex insists she flee from oncoming Solarii cultists and sacrifices himself so she can escape with the equipment.
Following clues left by a World War II-era Japanese military expedition that studied the island's storms, Lara explores an ancient coastal tomb. There, she finds the remains of the general of the Stormguard—the Oni defending the monastery—who committed seppuku; in his final message, he reveals that Himiko's previous successor took her own life rather than receive Himiko's power, leaving Himiko's soul trapped in her corpse. Lara concludes that the Ascension is a ritual in which Himiko's soul is transferred into a new body, destroying the host's soul in the process, and that Mathias intends to sacrifice Sam as the next vessel.
Upon returning to the crew, Lara learns that Whitman has betrayed them and handed Sam over to Mathias. Lara, Reyes, and Jonah pursue them to the monastery, where Lara arrives in time to witness Whitman being killed by the Oni.