We discuss ten games like Tomb Raider you must play. Add these well-recommended games to your gaming library.
Tomb Raider is a series of games first developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. Players take control of Lara Croft as they raid various tombs of their artefacts, encounter dangerous wildlife that threatens to rip Lara apart and explore the supernatural secrets buried away.
While the emergence of Uncharted has dampened the love for the franchise, it still remains very popular with gamers today, with the latest entry being Shadow of the Tomb Raider in 2018. But as that was five years ago, if you’re wanting to keep busy here are ten games like Tomb Raider you must play.
10 games like Tomb Raider
Uncharted franchise (2007-2022)
Uncharted is an exploration game with similar gameplay and setting to Tomb Raider, with the ever-charismatic Nathan Drake leading the hunt for artefacts across the globe. Players encounter puzzles, combat, shooting and platforming in beautiful locations all the while trying not to die.
Assassin’s Creed franchise (2007-ongoing)
Assassin’s Creed is a franchise that allows players to explore historical settings, like Rome during the early 1500s in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Ancient Egypt in Assassin’s Creed: Origins or Victorian London in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Once there, players will join the fight against the Templars, assassinating targets, and scaling buildings. There is plenty of tomb raiding to be done in these games too, whether it’s pyramids of dead pharaohs or crypts of dead assassins.
Prince of Persia franchise (1989-ongoing)
The inspiration for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, the Prince of Persia games sees players take control of the titular hero in several platform gauntlets all while fighting enemies. Its plot is full of ancient artefacts, something that should appeal to those that love the Tomb Raider franchise.
Horizon Zero Dawn (2020-2022)
Horizon Zero Dawn and its follow-up, Horizon Forbidden West take two inherently cool concepts, dinosaurs and robots, and smash them together to produce an awesome combination. Players take control of Aloy, as she sets out to discover her past, and in the second game explore a new region called the Forbidden West.
Far Cry franchise (2004-2021)
Far Cry is all about giving players a beautiful foreign location, a brutal and oppressive regime with charismatic leaders to overthrow, and a sandbox full of weapons, tools and the local wildlife to do it with. The series is well known for its chaotic gameplay, with a massive open world for players to explore and towers to climb.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor franchise (2014-2017)
If players enjoy exploring fantastical worlds, then they should take a look at Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, both games act as non-canonical prequels to The Lord of the Rings and follow Talion, a ranger from Gondor and his ghost buddy Celebrimbor. The standout feature is the Nemesis system, where little personalised rivalries are created between the orcs that kill you or those the player has slain.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
An open-world-based game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sees players take on the role of Geralt of Rivia, as he searches for his adopted daughter Ciri and tries to stop the Wild Hunt. Filled with monsters, and many quests to do with excellent writing, this game is a massive undertaking to complete.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
The Legend of Zelda is a franchise worth exploring in its own right, but the latest instalment in the series is a must-play game. A sequel to the 2017 game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it gives players a massive world full of secrets to find, puzzles to solve and a mysterious race to learn more about, the Zonai.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
While Star Wars and Lara Croft might not have much in common on the surface, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order does have things in common with Tomb Raider. There’s a lot of exploration and platforming, with combat encounters mixed in-between. Players explore many worlds to the tombs of an ancient race called the Zeffo and must overcome traps and puzzles to progress, similar to Tomb Raider.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
Skyrim is probably one of the best open-world RPG games available, with so many areas to explore, factions to interact with, and secrets to find. There is of course tomb raiding and a sense of the supernatural, but there is much more to find than just that. Set in a fantasy world, players go on a quest to stop the dragon Alduin, but that is only one of many things to do.
Do you have any other recommendations for games like Tomb Raider? Let us know!
