Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition now available for Switch 2

Few people are better positioned to reflect on three decades of Lara Croft than Meagan Marie. A longtime member of the Tomb Raider team at Crystal Dynamics, author of 20 Years of Tomb Raider, and a fan who has cosplayed the character more than a dozen times, she has spent her career at the intersection of Lara’s past and her future. With Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis on the horizon, the anniversary is a chance to look at how one adventurer has been carried forward across thirty years. It began in 1996 with Core Design, a small studio in Derby, England. A tiny team of six primary developers, with additional art and audio support, built the original Tomb Raider and, in the process, created one of gaming’s most enduring icons. “They changed the face of the industry, and they changed the face of what we expect from our protagonists,” Marie says. “They are responsible for creating the franchise that we all love thirty years later.”

Gary Larson’s ability to marry cheesy puns with genuinely funny drawings is proof of the man’s genius One of the best possible recipes for comedy is to have incredibly dumb characters written by incredibly smart people. Homer Simpson, for example, has often been written by Harvard-educated writers staffed at The Simpsons. Fry on Futurama is the same kind of character, as is Michael Scott from The Office, and basically every character on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Aimee Hart is an Entertainment and Gaming staff writer here at Polygon. After watching the original trilogy at five, she decided to make Star Wars her entire personality and hasn't let go of the franchise since. Aimee also has a great love for Dungeons & Dragons and everything Critical Role. She has been a games, entertainment, tech, and culture reporter and critic for 10 years, with bylines at Inverse, Fanbyte, Rolling Stone, and many more. 12 years ago, Doctor Who showed the Doctor at his ugliest

When Robert Altman's M*A*S*H arrived in theaters in 1970, its irreverent approach to the Korean War was unlike anything audiences had seen before. The film followed army surgeons who used practical jokes, alcohol, and a disregard for military authority to maintain their sanity while treating the wounded. Two years later, CBS adapted the film into a television series that retained its anarchic spirit but accomplished something the movie couldn't: It gave audiences time to get to know these characters. Over 11 seasons, M*A*S*H evolved from a sitcom about wisecracking doctors into a thoughtful examination of humanity. The doctors and nurses of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital are exhausted, frightened, and overwhelmed by circumstances beyond their control. They're also funny, largely because humor is one of the few weapons they have against the horrors surrounding them. I grew up watching M*A*S*H with my parents, and while the jokes made me laugh, what stayed with me was how much I cared about the people telling them.

After months of umming ahhing over paint colours, covering our living room wall in little swatches of testers, we've finally got exasperated with the entire process selected Cherry Caramel. I would be clearing out the living room to start painting today, but, honestly, after the surprise DIY of an exploded sink yesterday, maybe what's called for is some gaming. Nothing to do with either piping, water levels, or interior design. Sorry, Pipemania, Bioshock, and House Flipper.

A few of the things that have us hooked this week. Hello, it is me, your regular weekend host Mertie and I am here once again to guide you gently into Saturday with our usual feature What We've Been Playing, where we write a little about the games we've been, yes, playing. This week, Bertie - before fleeing for a well-deserved break and leaving me with the keys to the place - runs a one-on-one D&D game; Connor plays with his Moon Flesh in Warframe, and I've been serenely gallivanting over yonder hills.