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Lara Croft GO is a spin-off of the Tomb Raider series. Like the games of the main series, it features Adventurer Archaeologist Lara Croft attempting to traverse inhospitable environments while solving puzzles, avoiding traps, and fighting off hostile wildlife. Unlike the main series, it presents these challenges as a turn-based Puzzle Game rather than an Action-Adventure.

The basic gameplay consists of Lara moving around a isometric board-like map; there are fixed paths, and Lara moves down them one tile at a time. Tiles can be on different levels, and can sometimes be moved. There may be traps to avoid, hostile animals to kill, levers to pull, blocks to push, and pressure plates to stand on (or weigh down). Turns alternate between Lara and the rest of the world — she moves, and then everything else does (enemies, boulders, timers, etc.). You have unlimited time to plan your next steps, but have to be careful you don't leave yourself with no good moves.

Lara Croft GO was developed by Square Enix Montreal, and was released for Android, iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone in 2015. Two free downloadable expansions were released for it: Shard of Life (2015) and Mirror of Spirits (2016; developed by KO_OP Mode). It is the second entry in a trilogy of "GO" games, covering multiple franchises owned by Square Enix — the first was set in the Hitman universe and the third was set in the Deus Ex universe.

Not a game about wandering around in the real world and trying to catch Lara Croft.


Tropes:

  • Adventurer Archaeologist: As in the main series, Lara is exploring in search of artifacts. In the main game, she's after the Atlas of Beyond, found in the ruins of a lost civilisation in the Amazon. The expansions Shard of Life and Mirror of Spirits are both named for the artifacts they feature, although in the latter case, Lara had already retrieved it when the trouble starts.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Achieving certain things in the game unlocks different outfits for Lara, mostly drawn from the various classic-era Tomb Raider games.
  • Collection Sidequest: Many levels have hidden urns hidden containing pieces of jewels to collect. (The urns are often in places where Lara can't actually go, so they're more a collection quest for the player than for her.)
  • Fiery Salamander: Large salamanders are enemies in the game. They sleep until disturbed, but follow Lara if she wakes them. They follow exactly the same path she does, even if there's a better one — this fact can be exploited to either lure them into a trap or get them to do something useful (like trigger a pressure plate).
  • Giant Spider: Giant spiders are one of the enemies Lara can encounter. They move back and forth along a straight path, killing Lara if she steps in front of them but otherwise ignoring her. A number of puzzles involve getting them to walk across a pressure plate at the right time for Lara to do something else — on some occasions, this means actively keeping them alive them rather than just killing them.
  • Golem: The Shard of Life expansion features golem versions of the enemies found elsewhere in the game — the main difference being that when the golem versions are killed, they come back to life after a few turns. This is usually a problem, but some puzzles actually rely on them reviving at the right time to do something useful.
  • Indy Escape: One of the hazards in the game are rolling boulders. Since it's turn-based, there's no particular panic — the boulders only move after Lara does. You still need to make sure you don't waste any turns escaping them, however — and in some cases, you need to time your triggering of them so that they'll roll over a pressure plate (or an enemy) on just the right turn.
  • Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Since it's a puzzle game rather than a platformer, Lara can only follow the designated paths of the puzzle — she can scale cliffs if there's a path up them, but can't jump over a pile of rocks if there isn't.
  • Internal Homage: Occasionally, when Lara reaches the top of a cliff, she'll do a handstand (a front walkover, in gymnastics terms) on the edge instead of just pulling herself up. This is a nod to the earlier Tomb Raider games (1-5), in which it was possible to do this move. (In both this and the originals, it's never required and has no gameplay effect — Lara is just showing off.)
  • Kill It with Fire: Lara can shoot hostile creatures at close range, but unless she approaches from the side or back, she won't get close enough to shoot before getting mauled. If she has a flaming torch, however, the dynamic changes — the creatures are afraid of the fire, allowing her to confront them head-on.
  • Minimalist Cast: Lara is the only character (unless you count the Queen of Venom, who's a giant serpent).
  • Mirror World: The Mirror of Spirits downloadable expansion features levels in which Lara's world comes parallel to a world of spirits, containing a mirror Lara. This alternate Lara makes exactly the same moves as "real" Lara — but the spirit world isn't an exact clone of the real one. This results in simultaneous Dual-World Gameplay, with players having to find moves which work in both worlds rather than just one of them.
  • No-Dialogue Episode: In comparison to the main series games. Lara doesn't speak at all (or encounter anyone to speak with, for that matter).
  • Snakes Are Sinister: Snakes are one of the common enemies. They normally just stay curled up in one spot, but will attack Lara if she moves in front of them (unless she has a torch). Additionally, there's the Queen of Venom, a giant snake who pursues Lara from across several levels.

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