Cube Escape Paradox: Investigate the Murder with Dale Vandermeer
For players who are interested in both Rusty Lake and puzzle games, here is a game you cannot miss. Paradox is free to play now, and players can claim it to their library on Steam without costing a dime. Cube Escape Paradox is the tenth game in the Cube Escape series, featuring interactions and connections with Rusty Lake Universe. This time, players will be outsiders of the Vanderboom family and play the role of a homicide detective, Dale Vandermeer. The detective wakes up in an ominous room, and his memory is shrouded in mystery. It is the players’ job to revive his memory and help him escape. This post will take you through the details and the story of the game. Spoiler alert!
What Is Cube Escape Paradox?
Cube Escape Paradox is a two-part game, with its second part called Cube Escape Paradox – Chapter 2.
The game is part of the Cube Escape Collection. It was developed and published on 20th September 2018 by Rusty Lake.
For the past seven years, players on Steam have reviewed the game as “Overwhelmingly Positive”. The game is free to play now, but players will still need to pay for Cube Escape Paradox – Chapter 2.
The game falls into the category of single-player, point-and-click puzzles, and psychological horror. Although it is a single-player game, players may find it easier and more enjoyable to play with a friend next to them.
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What Is Cube Escape Collection?
Rusty Lake Studio developed both Rusty Lake Series and Cube Escape Collection, and Cube Escape Paradox falls into the second category.
Generally speaking, the stories and characters from both series are connected and interwoven, encouraging players to learn more about Rusty Lake’s mysteries.
The launch of Cube Escape Collection was earlier than Rusty Lake Series. While Rusty Lake Series focuses on the Vanderboom family, Cube Escape Collection introduces a main character called Dale Vandermeer as the detective investigating crimes related to Laura Vanderboom and exploring the mystery surrounding the Vanderboom family.
To put it simply, Cube Escape Collection is looking into the family secrets as an outsider, while Rusty Lake Series is about knowing the family story from within.
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What Is Rusty Lake Studio?
The publisher and developer of Cube Escape Paradox is called Rusty Lake. Besides the Cube Escape Collection, the studio has also developed and published Rusty Lake series.
Robin Ras and Maarten Looise established Rusty Lake, an independent game production studio, in Amsterdam in 2015. The studio’s focus is on creating puzzle games with an “escape room” theme. The games are also the result of combining surreal designs with creativity.
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What Are the Basic Device Requirements For Cube Escape Paradox?
As a point-and-click game, Cube Escape Paradox does not have high device requirements, nor does it take up too much space. You can easily run it using a Lightbook.
For Windows users, the minimum requirements are:
- OS: Microsoft Windows XP/ Vista/ 7, 8, 10 or later
- Processor: 1.8 Ghz Processor
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: Direct X 9.0c compatible video card
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 120 MB available space
For macOS users, the minimum requirements 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 This Game?
Cube Escape Paradox lays the background of the story of Laura Vanderboom and Dale Vandemeer, but it does not go through to the end of their story and the investigation.
The game starts from Dale Vandemeer’s monologue, raising questions of where he is, who the dead woman is, and how she died. It appears that Dale has lost his memory and has been trapped in the room. With the background set, the main job is to recover the memory and escape the room.
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Laura Vanderboom’s Death
The case file marks the progress of the game. To escape the room and revoke the memory, players need to collect the necessary evidence for Laura Vanderboom’s murder case, including her dead body’s photo, newspaper pieces, a piece of her dress, etc.
Laura Vanderboom, the daughter of Rose Vanderboom and the reincarnation of William Vanderboom, dies with her throat slit.
The game does not clearly indicate if Dale is the homicide detective assigned to this case. On the other hand, the picture of Dale and Laura together suggests they know each other at least as acquaintances.
As this case is almost the only consistent clue to follow, Dale suggests getting to the bottom of the case in the locked room.
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The Past and The Healing at Rusty Lake
Another recurring theme of Cube Escape Paradox is the invitations and ads about Rusty Lake, as a place for relaxing and mental healing. Besides Laura’s case, the only lead Dale has is the name, Rusty Lake. It is up to the players to figure out what Dale’s relationship with Rusty Lake is and what answers he can find there.
However, Cube Escape Paradox only lays the foundation for the unwinding story among Dale, Laura, and Rusty Lake, and does not give clear and specific answers.
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Is Cube Escape Paradox Worth Playing?
Players who have played other games developed by Rusty Lake Studio or are fans of the Rusty Lake stories will find it worthwhile to play Cube Escape Paradox as well. The game does not fall short of telling the story of the Vanderboom family from Dale’s perspective, and provides another missing piece to the puzzle of Rusty Lake Universe. The puzzles are even more intricate and well-designed than Rusty Lake Roots.
The game makes full use of the limited space of the room and creatively reuses many clues and tools. Because of the genre of “escape room”, the game cannot offer too many new tools and puzzle settings for the players to explore. However, the game overcomes this limitation by offering clues in different ways, though with the same medium. For example, TV can provide straight hints for the next clue, but can also give a series of pictures to indicate a sequence of events. Water can be used to take out the glass eye, but it can also be used in the brain escape mini-game.
The recurring tools familiarize players with the environment and the gameplay mechanism. At the same time, the creative use of the same tools gives each puzzle a novel touch.
Cube Escape Paradox is also rich with different types of puzzles, including tool-finding, maze escape, evidence collection, route mapping, etc. It is a game that will not bore the players with repetition and redundancy.
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FAQs
How long is Cube Escape Paradox?
It will take players 3 to 4 hours to complete Cube Escape Paradox. This time may vary depending on the players’ speed in solving puzzles. The game gets more difficult, and the puzzles become more complicated as players proceed to the latter half of the game.
Where can I play Cube Escape: Paradox?
The game is available on Steam now for free. Players can type the name in the Steam search bar and claim it to their library. Otherwise, players can also purchase and download from rustylake.com, the official website of Rusty Lake. The versions for both Windows and macOS are available on the website for free. For mobiles, players can get the game from either Google Play Store or Apple Store.
Is Cube Escape a horror game?
Cube Escape Series are not, strictly speaking, horror games, though it has some psychological horror to it. The games have suspenseful elements and gruesome stories, but the games will not show you terrifying or gory graphics most of the time. The series are more akin to detective games, with some dead bodies and blood, but not as cruel and gory as the horror genre.
Who is the main character in Cube Escape Paradox?
Dale Vandemeer, a homicide detective, is the main character in Cube Escape Paradox. He loses his memory and is locked in a room. To find his way out, he needs to solve Laura Vanderboom’s murder case and recover his memory about Laura and Rusty Lake.
Conclusion
Cube Escape Collection enables approaching the story of Rusty Lake from another perspective, with Dale Vandemeer introduced into the universe. While Rusty Lake Universe adopts the views of the family members, Cube Escape Collection makes the story more convincing and palpable through the view of a third party.
Cube Escape Paradox also focuses more on presenting puzzles in a fixed room and space, instead of progressing through different rooms like Rusty Lake Roots. To overcome the limitations and tediousness of being trapped in the same room, the game creatively sets up the tool and puzzle system to allow players to explore different ways of using the same tool, and different answers to the same puzzle or lock. For players who are interested in the Vanderboom family and puzzles, Cube Escape Paradox is a game that they cannot fail to enjoy.
