Rusty Lake - "The Past Within"

Updated: Apr 24

Photo above is property of Rusty Lake

Company: Rusty Lake

Game: The Past Within

Country: Netherlands 🇳🇱

Language: English

Type of Game: Video Escape Game 📱

Genre: Supernatural, Cooperative

Date Played: December 10, 2022

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10

Price: $2.99 (available for purchase & download - Google Play, Apple App Store, Stream, itch.io)

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Communicating with the past and the future, can you learn about Albert Vanderboom’s legacy and help bring it to life?

Video above is property of Rusty Lake

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Playing over Zoom with my co-op player, Jillian, we both launched the game on our device. At the start, we each got the option to either play as “The Past” or “The Future”. Here, we needed to choose the opposite as the other person. Next, we were given the choice to play either “The Bee” or “The Butterfly” game. Both of us needed to make sure to choose the same creature. Each version has the same story, but the solutions will be different for each version. This allows you to replay the game as the opposite timeline and not have to worry about remembering the solutions. One note to make was that both our games were not directly connected. To progress in either of the games, we needed information from the other game. It was helpful that there were a few key moments in the game where we were told to press a button at the same time to advance together as well as a few check-ins to make sure one of us was not further ahead.

If you are a fan of previous Rusty Lake games, you will be familiar with the gameplay and the point-n-click controls. There is also a portion where we had to navigate a cube in a 3D environment which was different from other Rusty Lake games but a nice addition. The story was great and slowly unraveled as you moved though the game. Played over 2 chapters, the game had a nice balance. Both of us started out in a different environment each and a different way to interact with it and when we moved on to the next chapter, the interaction switched.

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All the puzzles required communication and almost all of them had us describe what we see to the other person and they would have to use that information on their side. None of the puzzles felt overly difficult, especially once you know what to look for. Some of the areas where we did get stuck was where we knew what we needed to do but not sure how to execute it. Even with some of the simpler puzzles, there was a lot to do and it did take us about 2 hours to complete. There is no hint system in this game so you would either need to keep trying or there are many walkthroughs online that you would have to find and use.

Photos above are property of Rusty Lake

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The Past Within was a fantastic game in the Rusty Lake series and had a story that expanded the lore even more. This was their first co-op game and it was well worth the play if you are a Rusty Lake fan. This would also be a fun game if you enjoy some creepy escape games. There were no jump scares but there are a lot of wide eye moments that occurred. The game took about 2 hours to complete but neither of us felt stalled or bored at any part in the game. If you are also a fan of side quests, this game does provide achievements hidden throughout that will require a few plays to find them all. The different solution versions also allows for replay value and I am excited to try it again and check out what was on the other side of the cube.

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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)