Rise of the Tomb Raider references the halcyon days of its mega-popular Playstation era predecessors with tons of callbacks and Easter eggs hidden in the relics, documents, and recordings of Croft Manor. More specifically, these little in-jokes are found in the “Blood Ties” half of the DLC, where you’ll do more of your exploring of Croft Manor.
There are references to Tomb Raider 2, Tomb Raider 4, and even Tomb Raider: Underworld. That’s two separate continuities, and we’re on the third with Rise of the Tomb Raider. While most of these references aren’t anything too special, it’s fun finding links to the old — and there are even hints at Lara Croft’s future adventures. We can only hope.
Check out all the references we’ve found in Croft Manor so far. If you’re replaying the 20th Anniversary Edition, don’t miss out on powerful upgrade skills — explore and complete every hidden puzzle with our Rise of the Tomb Raider: Challenge Tomb Locations & Solutions Guide.
Croft Manor DLC – Blood Ties Easter Eggs
The “Blood Ties” add-on is fairly low-key. You won’t be fighting armies of armed goons here. Instead, this mission is all about exploration and solving a single riddle. There are tons of relics and documents to find, and many of these feature special callbacks to the original timeline — or the Legends timeline.
Check out the gallery for short descriptions of each Easter egg, and keep scrolling for slightly more explanation.
Venice Violins Return [Tomb Raider 2]
The theme of Venice in Tomb Raider 2 returns, if you cycle through the record player enough. This calming tune is a complete transplant and can be listened to in the Croft Manor study. Look for a record player with a music note icon — continue to attempt to use it to get the tune.
Pranking Poor Winston [Tomb Raider 2]
In Tomb Raider 2 Gold, you get a chance to explore Lara Croft’s mansion. Along with interacting with the intercom to play the music found above, you can also find a silly Easter egg in the kitchen — Lara’s butler Winston is trapped in the freezer. Just check out the old graphics (and Easter egg) in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCfe-Sqy2UA
Lara’s penchant for trapping her butler in the freezer is not established in the modern continuity thanks to a document — as a youngster, Lara trapped Winston in the freezer in an act of rebellion. It’s all detailed in one of the many letters Winston sent off to Lara’s father.
Amelia’s Death [Tomb Raider: Underworld]
This callback comes from Tomb Raider: Underworld, the last in the “Legends” continuity of adventure games. Winston isn’t the only one leaving documents around, you can also find letters and notes related to Amelia’s death. Amelia, or Lady Croft, died in a plane crash in the Himalayas of Nepal.
That tragic death backstory is pretty much intact in the letters, although the events of Underworld, which saw Amelia’s brief return thanks to some ancient magic and artifacts, isn’t referenced quite so implicitly.
Lara’s Egyptian Adventures [Tomb Raider 1]
The original Tomb Raider wasn’t so concerned with ancient Egypt, although much of the story centered around a massive pyramid, the origin of the game’s disgusting end area aren’t exactly of this Earth. Still, there’s plenty to find in the Croft Manor that references Lara’s love of hieroglyphics.
One specific key is even transplanted into this continuity; the Ankh of Isis, a special key relic from the Obelisk of Khamoon level, returns here — although it doesn’t open anything this time.
The Temple of Xian Artifact [Tomb Raider 2]
Referencing the final goal of Tomb Raider 2, the Temple of Xian Jade Dragon artifact can be examined, with Lara coyly suggesting that she might need to look into that legend one day.
That’s just a handful of all the Easter eggs we’ve stumbled across. Have you found some of your own? Let us know in the comments!
