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The Spin-Around Weapons Cheat

Tomb Raider · PlayStation · 1996 · Cheat Code

While holding Walk, step forward then back, spin Lara three full turns, then back-flip (Down + Square) or press an L1/Triangle/R2/L2 inventory sequence

Effect: Grants Lara all weapons and full ammunition; a botched variant makes her explode.

Core Design buried Tomb Raider’s cheats behind a physical performance rather than a code: to arm Lara with every weapon, the player had to walk her a precise step forward and back, then rotate her three complete turns before a back-flip. Getting the choreography slightly wrong triggered the game’s other legend — Lara detonating in a shower of gibs. The elaborate ritual became inseparable from a persistent schoolyard myth that a similar dance would strip Lara of her clothes, a "nude code" that never existed but haunted the series for years. The real cheat was risky in its own right: on PlayStation it could corrupt inventory and erase story-critical items collected earlier in a level.

Key Facts:
  • The all-weapons cheat is performed as a physical spin-and-flip, not a typed code
  • A mistimed input makes Lara explode instead
  • It fuelled the enduring "nude code" hoax, a cheat that never actually existed

Sources & further reading