Rusty Lake: Roots

About

"Rusty Lake: Roots" is a atmospheric point-and-click adventure game that follows James Vanderboom's life as it changes dramatically after planting a special seed in his inherited garden. The game features a unique storyline where you expand your family tree by unlocking portraits in the tree of life across more than 33 levels. With a immersive soundtrack, suspenseful moments and achievements to unravel, this game will keep you engaged and intrigued.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+15

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,755 reviews

story302 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

Engaging and intriguing storyline that expands on the Rusty Lake universe.
Puzzles are fun and varied, with a good balance of difficulty.
Beautiful art style and atmospheric music that enhance the overall experience.

Some puzzles can be overly simplistic or frustrating due to unclear mechanics.
The game lacks a fullscreen option, which detracts from immersion.
Missable achievements require replaying the entire game to obtain.

story
741 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
57%
2%
The story in "Rusty Lake: Roots" is widely praised for its depth and complexity, weaving a dark and eerie narrative that explores the generational trauma of the Vanderboom family. Players appreciate the game's ability to tell a compelling tale through puzzles, often without dialogue, creating an immersive experience that keeps them engaged from start to finish. While some find the plot convoluted, many agree that understanding the overarching lore of the Rusty Lake series enhances the experience, making it a must-play for fans of narrative-driven puzzle games.
- “It's lengthy but keeps you hooked from start to finish and makes you piece the story together by yourself in a way that makes you feel complicit in the insanity.”
- “The story draws you in and slowly reveals the mysteries of this strange family.”
- “The story is convoluted and the puzzles only get into moon logic a couple of times.”
- “The story kept me interested as well.”
- “The story is deep as we follow three generations of the family; you might want to play it twice to understand it fully.”
graphics
134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
50%
2%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a unique and stylized art style that many players find beautiful and fitting for its eerie atmosphere. While some reviews criticize the graphics as simplistic or reminiscent of flash games, others appreciate the haunting visuals and how they enhance the storytelling and puzzle-solving experience. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's charm, despite mixed opinions on their quality.
- “As always, wonderful graphics and a grim but subtle storytelling that unveils as you progress through some surreal puzzles, drawing you in more as you proceed through the game.”
- “I love everything about this game: the aesthetic, the story, the puzzles were not frustratingly complicated.”
- “The dark gothic plot coupled with a really unique art style and great puzzles make this game so enjoyable.”
- “Rusty Lake, please do something about your graphics.”
- “TL;DR: graphics suck, hire a professional.”
- “The only thing that may have turned me off in the process is their 'flash game' art style as well as their slightly linear main story.”
atmosphere
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
40%
3%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently described as eerie, creepy, and richly immersive, with a unique blend of macabre and surreal elements that evoke comparisons to the works of David Lynch and Lovecraft. Players appreciate the striking art style and atmospheric music, which enhance the unsettling narrative and contribute to a sense of foreboding throughout the gameplay. Overall, the game's atmosphere is a standout feature, drawing players into its bizarre and thought-provoking world, despite some criticisms regarding puzzle complexity and controls.
- “Much more complex, atmospheric, and creepy than I anticipated, but in a way that I've learned to expect from Rusty Lake.”
- “The atmosphere, style, and puzzles are on the level with other Rusty Lake games.”
- “The game delivers the classic twisted atmosphere of the original Cube Escape games with its usual charm and style.”
- “The game has a twisted atmosphere; it's like everyone just accepts all the strangeness that is going on.”
- “On the whole, however, I wasn't a fan of the dark atmosphere the game was going for.”
- “The stationary drawings are still stylish; however, the animation of the characters is somewhat crude and awkward, preventing me from immersing myself into the atmosphere now and then.”
gameplay
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
75%
4%
The gameplay of the game is a mix of point-and-click mechanics and puzzle-solving, with many players noting its simplicity and accessibility, though some puzzles can be frustratingly unclear. While the game maintains a familiar structure from previous entries in the series, it introduces new mechanics and a branching narrative that enhances the experience. Overall, the gameplay is generally well-received for its engaging story and artistic style, despite some criticisms regarding clunky mechanics and occasional lack of guidance in puzzle-solving.
- “Discussing the positives, first of all, the game continues to bring a new gameplay experience at the same time as an intriguing story accompanied by a great artistic style and a good soundtrack that creates that unique setting.”
- “The puzzles are quite challenging, but not impossible to figure out without a walkthrough; the story, although quite bizarre sometimes, is nonetheless intriguing and leaves you wanting to discover more; and the gameplay mechanics are solid but simple.”
- “The gameplay was easy to get the hang of but still activated those brain cells and was fun.”
- “From a gameplay perspective, this one is just like the others.”
- “The gameplay is lackluster even for a point and click game.”
- “My only complaint is that some of the puzzles have no sort of hint as to what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to go, which can result in a lot of time just trying to figure out the base mechanics.”
music
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
43%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric quality, enhancing the overall experience with a mix of relaxing, eerie, and haunting tracks that complement the gameplay and story. While many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, some note occasional issues with music dropouts and repetitiveness during extended play. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant asset, contributing to the game's unique ambiance and emotional depth.
- “The music is very good and comfy + classic.. in fact sometimes now I put it to chill out because it's really good.”
- “Rusty Lake: Roots is a marvelous piece of craft, the art is very simple yet intriguing, the gameplay is also very simple since it can be played with only the mouse and the music made by Victor Butzelaar is fantastic, it's got one of the best game OSTs out there.”
- “The music, the art, and story give you a feeling like no other game.”
- “The whole point of the game is to feel gross, disturbing, and twisted; however, I did find the music annoying after a while and some of the puzzles are just a pain to do.”
- “Terrible voice acting, cheap and repetitive music, stock sound effects, and somewhat comical animations (though many of them are purposefully comical - not all of them, but some for sure).”
- “Only thing that lets the game down are the soundtracks; they could have done a better job with them.”
humor
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of dark, macabre, and absurd elements, often enhancing the quirky and charming atmosphere. While many players appreciate the funny and creative puzzles, some critique the juvenile and crude humor that occasionally detracts from the overall suspense. Overall, the game successfully balances humor with its mystery and horror themes, making it a unique experience for fans of dark comedy.
- “The story is a mystery and has some funny and sad parts.”
- “It has a lot of charm, and the quirky sense of humor and horror the game balances is by far the highlight.”
- “This game is dark, macabre, funny, challenging, and downright silly all wrapped up into one.”
replayability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
65%
18%
The game's replayability is mixed, with some players finding it infinitely replayable due to the ability to explore different character stories and unlock secrets, while others feel it lacks substantial replay value beyond initial completion. Achievements and additional tasks post-game provide some incentive for replay, but many reviewers noted that the overall experience is relatively short and may not encourage multiple playthroughs.
- “Each level is replayable on its own, making it easy to get achievements, though some non-story-related achievements can feel obscure without a guide.”
- “I finished the game in almost 7 hours, but there are extras and secrets to unlock, and some achievements can only be obtained by playing from start to finish in specific ways, adding replay value.”
- “Plenty of replayability comes from trying to find extra little secrets, and I spent hours experimenting on the alchemy table.”
- “Poorly, there’s no real replayability, but after the game is finished for the first time, it gives the player another bunch of tasks leading to a playthrough of some of the levels for a second time.”
- “No replayability in my opinion.”
- “Aside from looks, the only other thing that I think might turn people away from this game is the length; it'll vary depending on one's problem-solving skills, of course, but expect it to be short, with the only 'replayability' once you solve the final puzzle being the new achievements.”
emotional
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a compelling and often heartbreaking narrative that intertwines creepy elements with moments of humanity, creating a unique emotional whiplash for players. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke strong feelings of sympathy and connection to characters, despite their flaws and the grim circumstances they face. Overall, the blend of eerie music and touching storylines contributes to a deeply engaging emotional experience that resonates with players.
- “The family tree style story is interesting and this is a wild emotional storyline.”
- “It is in a game full of creepy elements that you find the glamour of humanity particularly precious and touching, whether it is the love of Emma or the lie of Albert.”
- “I had an emotional investment in the storyline, and that’s a sign of an excellent point and click adventure game (or any video game, rather).”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
18%
73%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience. While many appreciate the engaging puzzles and the satisfaction of achievement hunting, some express frustration with tedious backtracking and certain overly simple or grotesque puzzles that detract from the enjoyment. The need for additional lives to manage grinding tasks is also a common point of contention.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Having to reset the entire tree to find one or two things I was missing was tedious; otherwise, this game was engaging and horrifying.”
- “There's plenty of puzzles where you have to match weird symbols with other objects or locations, and so even when you know how the hint fits into the puzzle box, it is tedious to go back and forth between the location of the hint and the location of the puzzle box.”
- “Where the original game was amusing and twisted, this game presents a series of tedious puzzles, most too simple to be interesting and many disgusting beyond good taste.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Reviewers praise the game's character development for its distinct and original character designs, highlighting the artist's talent in creating visually appealing and unique characters.
- “I really appreciate the distinct character designs.”
- “The original characters and their development are impressive.”
- “The artist is wonderful, and the character design is amazing!”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were.”
- “The characters don't evolve in a meaningful way throughout the game.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game is praised for its excellent optimization, featuring user-friendly controls and intuitive gameplay that enhance the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the impressive graphics and a strong price-performance ratio, making it a standout in the casual story-based genre.
- “- price-performance ratio”
- “the game itself (considering gameplay and controls) is user-friendly, intuitive and easy, the graphics are fancy, the price-performance ratio couldn't be better”
- “You may not like it, but this is what peak performance of casual story-based games looks like.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences occasional bugs and glitches, particularly when items are clicked rapidly, but these issues are generally minor and do not significantly impact overall gameplay stability.
- “Sometimes gets buggy when you click on an item too many times quickly.”
- “The game suffers from some weird bugs and glitches that the developer seems to have overlooked, but they don't hinder the game too much.”