Rusty Lake Roots: A Haunting Tale of Family Tragedy🩸
Rusty Lake Roots is a single-player puzzle game telling the story of the Vanderboom family. The game is unwrapped following the structure of a tree, from its roots to its branches, taking you through the haunting tale of the love, hatred, and murder among the Vanderbooms. If you enjoy other games in the Rusty Lake universe, Roots is the game you will love and cannot miss. This game is also directly related to another Rusty Lake game named “Samsara Room”. This post will introduce all about this indie game, including its stories around the three generations of the Vanderbooms, interpretations of the theme of the game, and FAQs.
When Is Rusty Lake Roots Released?
Rusty Lake Roots is the tenth game developed and published by an indie game studio called Rusty Lake on 20th October 2016. It is now available on Steam, and the Steam reviews for it are “Overwhelmingly Positive“.
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What Is Rusty Lake?
Rusty Lake is both the name of the developer and publisher for “Rusty Lake Roots”, and the name of its series of games and universe.
As an indie game development studio, Rusty Lake was founded in 2015 by Robin Ras and Maarten Looise in Amsterdam. The studio is dedicated to developing puzzle games in an “escape room” setting. The games are also the fruits of marrying imagination with surreal designs.
Other than being the studio’s name, Rusty Lake is the main theme of the game series as well. Moreover, the characters and stories from different games are intertwined and related, leading players to explore more and more about the secrets of Rusty Lake.
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What Are the Basic Device Requirements for Rusty Lake Roots?
Being a point-and-click game, Rusty Lake Roots does not require a gaming laptop to run the game. In most cases, Lightbooks can install and run the game as well.
The minimum requirements for Windows are:
- OS: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7, 8, 10
- Processor: 1.8 Ghz Processor
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Direct X 9.0c compatible video card
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 100 MB available space
The minimum requirements for macOS are:
- OS: OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or later
- Processor: Intel Mac 1.8 Ghz
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 120 MB available space
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What Is the Main Story of Rusty Lake Roots?
The main story of Rusty Lake Roots go over the family history of the Vanderbooms from the time when James Vanderboom returns to the family house to the time when Rose resurrects William Vanderboom.
In general, the mission of the game is to collect all ten offerings from the family members and three timepieces to enable the final resurrection. Here is the breakdown of each part of the game!
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James Vanderboom and Mary Vanderboom
Firstly, the game starts with James Vanderboom returns to the family house located in Rusty Lake in 1860, because of his uncle William Vanderboom has left this house to him. James marries Mary in 1865, five years later after he settles down in the house. This couple has three child: Emma, Samuel, and Albert.
Unfortunately, James drinks the elixir of life and death, made by William and Aldous Vanderboom (the brother of William), and dies afterwards. The dog, on the other hand, also drinks the elixir and obtains immortality, because the elixir has a 50% chance of taking away your life instantly and a 50% chance of granting immortality.
The children of James and Mary do not live in harmony with each other. Albert is the kid who has a birthmark on his head, and Emma and Samuel used to poke fun at him when they were young. It is fair to say that, other than the elixir, Albert is another factor who brings uncertainty and suspenseful plots to the whole story.
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Emma Vanderboom
Emma Vanderboom is the only daughter of James and Mary, and her story consists of the first branch of the family tree. The love for nature, flowers, and her son, is her unique characteristics in the family. It is safe to say that Emma represents love in the Vanderboom family, basically. The following paragraphs will explain further about this observation.
The game is being opaque about Emma’s husband and the way she gets pregnant. She has conceived from the flowers of the house. However, the happy days with the child, Frank, do not last long. Albert, with a pumpkin mask, drops Frank into the well with his teddy bear.
Emma, on the other hand, is completely ignorant of what happens to her son and continues her fruitless search for Frank. In 1896, she hangs herself at a tree after years of hopeless search.
However, in 1924, Frank escapes from the well with Rose’s help after decades of being trapped by Albert. He finds the letter from Emma left with the parrot, and the secret word to open the chest – “LOVE”. Later, he locates one of the timepieces.
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Samuel Vanderboom
Samuel Vanderboom is the son of James and Mary Vanderboom. Compared to Albert’s creepiness, Samuel appears to be normal, but his face always looks very grim. He marries Ida, the psyche who comes to Rusty Lake even after knowing the families from the crystal ball.
Samuel and Ida give birth to Leonard, who is unfortunately left alone after Albert kills his parents with voodoo, and Mary passes away as well.
Leonard later joins the First World War and loses one foot in the trenches. Mr. Crow guides him back to the family house. Leonard, eventually, locates one of the timepieces much-needed for William’s resurrection.
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Albert Vanderboom
Albert Vanderboom is also the son of James and Mary Vanderboom, but because of the facial defects, he always wears a mask. His masks vary at different levels in the game.
He harbors malice against his brother and sister because of the childhood bullying from them, and seeks his revenge after reaching adulthood.
Albert’s story is more sinister and gruesome than the other characters’ storylines. He tosses Frank into the well and keeps him there. Albert also casts voodoo to murder Samuel and Ida, and later, creates Rose from his semen and Ida’s egg. Frank, after escaping from the well, ends Albert’s life after winning the chess game.
Rose Vanderboom, the child from Albert and Ida’s bloodline, holds the key to resurrecting William Vanderboom. She is the one who manages to communicate with William through an Ouija board. At the end of Albert’s storyline, Rose finds the last timepiece from the family cemetary.
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The End of Rusty Lake Roots
The final mission brings the three branches of the family tree together. Frank, Rose, and Leonard are going to resurrect William Vanderboom using the ten offerings, three timepieces, and two lives. In this process, Frank and Leonard sacrifice themselves to achieve William’s rebirth. William is reincarnated as Laura Vanderboom.
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What Are the Merits of Rusty Lake Roots?
Rusty Lake Roots tells an engaging story of the Vanderboom family, of their love, hatred, revenge, and rebirth. The story covers four generations and does not fail to bestow each character with their unique personalities. The game is the cornerstone for the Rusty Lake universe, with all the details about each major family member. Players from other Rusty Lake games will definitely want to seek out more information about the Vanderboom family, and that is when Rusty Lake Roots comes into play.
The puzzles in the game are well-designed with diverse types and interactions. Rusty Lake Roots has mainly two categories of puzzles. For the first type of puzzles, players need to collect clues and tools to interact with the right objects. For the second type of puzzles, players have to find the patterns and solve the puzzles without the help of tools. The combination of the two types eases the stress and repetition of focusing only on similar puzzle types.
The game successfully enthralls players with its holistic design: the story of revenge and love, the haunting theme song, and the eerie graphic style. Rusty Lake Roots would not be an impressive game without any one of the factors listed above. It is the combination of puzzles, stories, songs, themes, and graphics, makes it stand out as an indie point-and-click game. As players conquer each puzzle, they are just like the family members of the Vanderbooms, trying to uncover more and more family secrets and magics. The family tune, which Rose and Frank play for their dance, is the very highlight of the game, telling all the suppressed and twisted love in Rusty Lake.
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FAQs
Is Rusty Lake Roots worth it?
Rusty Lake Roots receives reviews as “Overwhelmingly Positive” on Steam. The game is also nominated for the “International Mobile Gaming Awards Global”. It is one of the key links to the story of the Vanderbooms and is the most comprehensive about the family relations. The puzzles are not too difficult, and the story and game designs are totally engaging and enthralling. It is definitely worth buying!
How long does Rusty Lake Roots take?
The game has 33 levels in total. It will take you about 4 to 5 hours to go through all the levels and stories. The price to value of this game is great since its price is only around 3.99 USD.
Does Rusty Lake have jump scares?
Rusty Lake does not feature jump scares that will pop up in front of your screen. As the story progresses, creepy and gruesome things happen. You will see dead bodies dropping out of the clock, or an unexpected character showing up creepily. All in all, the games have horrifying elements, but will not scare you with jump scares purposely.
Conclusion
As an indie point-and-click game, Rusty Lake Roots is one of the well-received games on the market, winning hearts with its mesmerizing stories, styles, and puzzle design. The game welcomes players to discover the secrets and stories of the Vanderbooms as if asking them to peel off layers and layers until they can reach the onion core. In short, the puzzles bring satisfaction and promise more and more secrets as the story progresses.
It only takes about 4 to 5 hours to play through, but the game serves as a starting point. The story of the Vanderboom families can be found in other games in the series as well, but from the perspectives of different characters. Rusty Lake Studio has designed the series to have players like outsiders looking into the story with a telescope, and players can never have a complete picture in one go. Instead, players need to collect different pieces of the puzzle from different games and try to piece up the bigger picture by themselves.
