The Challenge‍

Awaken a sense of adventure for the world's most iconic video game

Since 1996, Lara Croft has been boldly traversing the globe, unearthing ancient mysteries and captivating gamers worldwide. Despite her iconic status, Lara's digital presence was fragmented—confined to fan sites and Wikipedia pages. Crystal Dynamics presented us with an ambitious challenge: design a website that embodies the thrilling user experience of the Tomb Raider video games while compelling visitors to join the Society of Raiders.

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The Solution‍

Transform the website into an interactive game that gets fans talking

We collaborated with the Crystal Dynamics team to design and implement an immersive puzzle experience directly on the homepage, echoing the adventurous spirit of the franchise. Product and news pages were designed to keep visitors navigating deeper into the site. We eliminated dead ends, creating a journey of continuous discovery that mirrors Lara’s own relentless pursuit of the unknown. Every user flow was designed to captivate enthusiasts with content that speaks directly to their interests while subtly guiding them toward conversion.

‍Infusing Adventure

​​We thoughtfully engineered the user experience to feel like an extension of the games themselves—captivating, adventurous, and rewarding. Leveraging tools like MidJourney allowed us to rapidly prototype visually stunning and contextually relevant assets, enhancing the storyboard and garnering stakeholder buy-in.

Turning Visitors into Raiders

The homepage puzzle was meticulously crafted to ignite curiosity and drive deep engagement, immersing users in the adventurous spirit of Tomb Raider. By seamlessly blending challenge and reward, it transformed casual visitors into registered users eager to unlock their prize.

Driving Deeper Exploration

Our “no dead-ends” approach blended seamlessly with the franchise's core themes—the spirit of discovery, the thrill of the unknown, and the promise of adventure. We increased engagement time by leveraging tags across products and articles, creating bespoke user paths based on individual user interests. 

Introducing an Icon to a New Generation

Following the successful launch, Crystal Dynamics tasked us with creating a dynamic new experience on the site to coincide with the release of the upcoming Netflix animated series. This carefully curated onboarding page was designed to captivate the next generation of fans, inviting them to delve into the rich lore and history of the Tomb Raider franchise. By connecting the animation's audience to the gaming world, this page would inspire Netflix viewers to embark on their own gaming adventures.