Welcome to the latest episode of Past Games, a Patreon-exclusive monthly series that uncovers the histories of 2026's biggest and most consequential gaming anniversaries. New episodes premiere on the first Monday of each month.

This Month on Past Games:

Act 1: Life Before Lara Croft

Act 2: The Making of Tomb Raider

Act 3: Lara in the Real World

Guest:

Daryl Baxter: Author of The Making of Tomb Raider and The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997-2000

Act 1: Life Before Lara Croft

Daryl Baxter (https://darylbaxter.com/) 

The Making of Tomb Raider (Bookshop.org)

The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997-2000 - Cover Revealed and Pre-Orders are live (Daryl Baxter)

Bottom (BBC)

Only Fools and Horses (BBC)

Gremlin Interactive (Wiki)

Team17 Digital Limited (Moby Games)

Bullfrog Productions, Ltd. (Moby Games)

Core Design (Wiki)

Sex, drink, football: the legacy of lads’ mags – by the women who (mostly) loved working for them (The Guardian)

The magazine that defined lad culture 30 years ago (BBC)

Jeremy Heath-Smith (Moby Games)

Rick Dangerous (Wiki)

Chuck Rock - Level 1 (YouTube/JohnnyDFox)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (JustWatch)

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (JustWatch)

The Original Tomb Raider 1 BETA Tech Demo! (YouTube/Raidercast)

Toby Gard (Fandom)

Paul Douglas has shared the original design documents for Tomb Raider 1 (r/TombRaider)

Tomb Raider Q&A with Paul Douglas (Core Design)

Inside the mind of Jamie Hewlett: 25 years of works, from Gorillaz to Tank Girl (Hero Magazine)

Tank Girl (Wiki)

Act 2: The Making of Tomb Raider

Eidos Interactive (Wiki)

Garry’s Mod (Steam)

Shelley Blond (WikiRaider)

Behind the Scenes - An Interview With Lara's Script Writer (1998) (Core Design)

Celebrating Vicky Arnold, Heather Stevens, and Susie Hamilton (TombRaider.com)

Katie Price (Wiki)

Sonic X-treme (Wiki)

Cooil Britannia (Wiki)

The Face (Tomb of Ash)

Act 3: Lara in the Real World

Tomb Raider's Nude Raider Myth Was Fake - But It Almost Wasn't (The Gamer)

Spice Girls - 2 Become 1 (Official Music Video) (Spice Girls)

Lara: The Official Lara Croft Magazine (Archive.org)

Why the man who oversaw Tomb Raider turned his back on games (Polygon)

36 Years of Game Development with Simon Phipps | Legends in The Cave (YouTube/Retro Collective)