Lara Croft Go On Linux: A Fun Turn-Based Puzzle Game

The Go Series, made up by Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go, are a series of puzzle games by Square Enix. While Hitman Go and Lara Croft go are available on all platforms, Deus Ex is limited to iOS and Android.

So what is Lara Croft Go? It’s a puzzle game wherein you play as Lara Croft as she traverses a multitude of caves, jungle temples, mountain tops across 40-or-so levels. The game is based around the Unity engine and handles quite nicely on both Linux and Windows using the Nvidia and Intel drivers. The only complaint I have about the Linux version is that, even with V-Sync enabled, the game still occasionally had tearing.

Gameplay wise, the game is one of the better games I have played. The mechanics in the game are not complicated at all-- traverse a grid map using turn based pacing, move pillars around, kill enemies, flip switches. If you’ve played a Zelda game, that’s about as complex as the puzzles will get. While not complex, the game executes them very well. A level will introduce a mechanic, give you a couple levels to get adjusted to it, and then introduce a new mechanic to pair with the existing one.

The game may teach you how to kill enemies, then how to activate switches, then it might make you use enemies to activate switches. It’s a natural progression of mechanics, and it’s a progression that makes the game very easy to understand.

The puzzles themselves range from obviously easy, to frustratingly hard. None of the individual levels took me more than probably a half hour to knock out, but they were just hard enough to give the player that feeling of accomplishment that comes with finally figuring it out.

The game also tries to encourage replays by hiding gems and artifact pieces around each level. Collecting all of the gems and artifacts unlock achievements and new skins for Lara.

Good Linux compatibility, good mechanics, good graphics, enjoyable. So the game is perfect, right? Not quite. While the game is pretty good, my biggest complaint is it’s length. You could beat the game in a long day of solid play, and for $9.99 I would want a bit more. While the Shard Of Life expansion, included, does add on an additional 11 levels, it’s still just about as long as I would hope for. it’s a tough sell.

If you are the type who enjoys puzzle games, then go ahead and pick it up, especially if its on sale. Alternatively, if you aren’t picky on platforms, the game is also available on iOS and Android for $1.99 and $0.99 respectively.