The family story and point-and-click puzzles give Rusty Lake: Roots a focused appeal for solo sessions. At ≈ $1.56 from Kinguin, you get an adventure with more than 33 levels; it is a natural fit if you enjoy uncovering secrets through portraits and a family tree.At $3.99 from Kinguin, you can weigh the purchase against Dec 17, 2026 – Jan 4, 2027, the next announced Steam sale window, without assuming the game will take part.
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated daily
Historical Low~ $0.992026-03Current Low Across Stores~ $1.34GOGvs. Historical Low+35%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
01About Rusty Lake: Roots
In Rusty Lake: Roots, James Vanderboom’s life changes after he plants a special seed in the garden of his inherited house. Solve point-and-click puzzles, unlock portraits on the tree of life, and follow the beginnings and endings of family members across more than 33 levels.Steam players rate the game 97%% positive across 8,499 reviews.The Steam PC version supports English interface and subtitles.
$0.992026-03-27 · GGOGBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.
Language support
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Simplified Chinese
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English
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dutch
Yes
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Italian
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Portuguese-Brazil
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Danish
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Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-19
02Before you buy
Gameplay
This point-and-click adventure follows the Vanderboom family through puzzles and more than 33 levels.
Language
Steam PC lists English full audio and interface and subtitles in multiple languages, including English.
03Frequently asked questions
What is Rusty Lake: Roots about?
James Vanderboom plants a special seed in the garden of his inherited house; you uncover portraits on the tree of life and follow the family’s lives.
What kind of game is it?
It is a point-and-click adventure built around puzzles and a family story, spanning more than 33 levels.
Can I play solo?
Yes. The Steam PC version is categorized as single-player.
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviews
Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
"Rusty Lake: Roots" is an entertaining (and cheap!) collection of "locked room" style puzzles that involves not only looking for objects, but also figuring out puzzles and the occasional math equation. The game's imagery (actually, the Rusty Lake series as a whole) might seem a tad weird and convoluted, but in more of an entertaining "Twin Peaks-esque" way than "this is going to give me nightmares". 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 (as of this Review's posting) Achievements. With that said, personally, I thought the experience lasted just as long as it needed to in order to make a good impression on me. I enjoyed this game's atmosphere, and its ability to present a twisted story without heaps of dialogue. And in the end, not only do I recommend others giving this a try, I also hope that this won't be the last we see of Rusty Lake.Show moreShow less
6.8 hours at review82 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
I'm obviously an outlier regarding Rusty Lake: Roots. It has overwhelmingly positive reviews, and well... I honestly didn't like it that much. For starters, there are a few things I did find decent. Namely the presentation and tone. I liked the creepy, weird ♥♥♥♥ going on in some of the puzzles. The UI is simple and easy to use.
Now for the less good stuff: the game. I've played a lot of point and click adventure games. Some being the most enjoyable and memorable experiences with gaming. I've also played a number of them which I found frustrating, obtuse and finicky. Rusty Lake: Roots is unfortunately one of those games. It's not consistently off-putting but when it is, it really is.
Probably the most off-putting part is that most of the puzzles operate on an "escape room" kind of basis. You click around trying to find whatever is available as a clue or an object and get started from there. Sometimes it's obvious where to start and sometimes you're like "okay, I'll just try this". Good puzzle games have a sense of flow to them. A vague but purposeful direction. Rusty Lake: Roots really felt lacking in that department for me.
There were clever puzzles, sure. Some puzzles I was like "yep, awesome... solved that. Solved that. We're going good". Others I was like "what the ♥♥♥♥ am I missing here?". Oh I'm meant to drag this. That's it. I just had to drag something. Another puzzle I knew how to solve but I wasn't doing it in the order that the game wanted me to start in. It was kind of a jigsaw puzzle sort of thing. I had to start from the one "bottom" piece of the statue.
These relatively minor things really impact the flow and direction of a puzzle game for me. It makes me feel like I'm wrong and stupid but not because the game is challenging. Not because a really good puzzle has me stumped and the clues finally click and I'm like "Oooohhh". But because the interactions are awkward.
Plenty of people obviously like Rusty Lake games so hey, your mileage may vary. If you're put off by point and click adventure games like what I'm describing, I can recommend Fran Bow which has a very similar atmosphere and doesn't feel anywhere near as awkward and frustrating as Rusty Lake.Show moreShow less
3.1 hours at review17 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Here's what you need to do:
Play Cube Escape games, they are free (online or mobile): Seasons, The Lake, Arles, Harvey's Box, Case 23, The Mill. Short "room escape" type point-and-clicks that will introduce you to a lot of objects and some characters and mechanics in the series. You'll get familiar with the universe and its themes.
Play Rusty Lake Hotel, then back to free Cube Escape entries (Birthday and Theater).
Now you are ready for Roots. This one will tie together most of the characters and lore, giving you somewhat clear and big picture for the first time.
It is followed by Cube Escape: The Cave and then Rusty Lake Paradise, uncovering some more history of the thing.
And now there's also Cube Escape: Paradox, first Cube Escape game on Steam, but rather different from the other ones, because it has a short film as part of experience (hint:the film has more to it).
And yes, this series is weird, eerie, maybe a bit disturbing and cites Twin Peaks at times.
* Cube Escape games mentioned in points 1, 2 and 4 are now on Steam in one neat package.Show moreShow less
9.9 hours at review76 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
I usually like this kind of game, but cannot recommend this one unfortunately. The supposed humourous parts of the game seem best aimed at children, yet the overriding theme is quite adult and morbid. The continual mini-games are very repetitive and lack imagination generally. 3/10Show moreShow less
3.6 hours at review15 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Show moreShow less
0.1 hours at review38 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Ima keep it real with you Cheif this game is putrid ass.
STORY: After beating the campaign without doing the extras I can firmly say this game not only makes no sense, but it takes every chance to be edgy. The parts that are understandable are sparse. The game loves to make people bleed dark red scribbles whenever possible. Shock factor and cheap jump scares are all this game knows. You will do things like murder people (kids too), feed a dog a placenta, cut babies off a cord, artificial insemination, etc. The game has a handful of ear rape and THERE IS NO VOLUME/MUSIC SLIDER. Two choices busted eardrums or mute it.
GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is lackluster even for a point and click game. Fun fact: cool math games is better than this at least by 100 times. The game contains ridiculous "puzzles" including the fan favorite: click a cube/square/circle until it opens or you guess the order. This game is a hell lot of guessing or YT videos. The "best level" has to be when you pull a grenade pin and do a puzzle, then you pull the pin and do a slightly different puzzle, then you yank that ♥♥♥♥♥ and do another ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ puzzle, 8 times over. That's what I call fun!
GRAPHICS: A game doesn't require supreme graphics to be legendary; go look at Minecraft. However, this game looks like a 5th-grade art project in MS paint on steroids. I could make a better-looking game with my feet.
OVERALL this game is an example of Steam letting anyone post a game. You can't even fullscreen. The part that confuses me beyond anything is this game is rated overwhelming positive. HOW? WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS GAME? I would rather watch the newest season of TWD or listen to GUMMO than play this poostache baby brown turd in the kid's pool of games.
0/10 go back to hell thank god I got this for free
2018 update: still trash
2019 update: still trash
2020 update: vile trash
2021 update: STINKY! trash
2022 update: THIS GAME CAUSED COVID!!!
2023 update: It may be 12/31/23 at 10:28 pm, but for 2023, STILL BUTT!
2025 update: SO BAD I SKIPPED 2024. WOW!Show moreShow less
5 hours at review14 people found this helpful
Received for free
RecommendedSteam player
An amazing little masterpiece! Stylish, puzzling, and creepy, just like all other 'Cube escape' games you can play for free. Only this one is much, much longer (and it is about two times bigger than 'Rusty Lake Hotel'), but still rather very cheap.
The only drawback is that the authors cannot put the achievements into Flash engine for some reason.
Still, can't recommend it high enough!Show moreShow less
5.9 hours at review38 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
TO ALL WOMEN: MEN' S MASTERPIECE EQUALS TRASH!
bought a year ago and never downloaded before and still can' t refund it cause of steam rules, so here comes the review, you happy?
被男人的神作诈骗购买，本质是垃圾虐女游戏，还是没被冻老实Show moreShow less
0.3 hours at review13 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I wasn’t expecting a whole lot after Rusty Lake Hotel. As interesting as the premise and setting were, the strange little puzzle box rooms of irritating brain-teasers didn’t give me much hope. That made it all the more surprising when Rusty Lake: Roots appeared to take all the lessons I had hoped they would from the prior game. It’s not a perfect genesis of the series, but the improvement is so dramatic I think it makes Rusty Lake Hotel a stronger recommendation by association.
The year is 1860 and James Vanderboom has just inherited a house from his late uncle. Arriving in the spring, he finds a seed and a note with instructions to plant and tend to it as he looks after the estate. From this humble beginning blooms the tale of the cursed Vanderboom family, tracing the lives of three generations of unfortunate souls. As their lives take their tragic turns, the story weaves everything back to that original seed and their unifying curse, and ultimately one of the dark secrets of Rusty Lake.
Much like the previous game, Roots is heavily steeped in the macabre. None of the people whom you guide through these stories will meet kind ends, and many will suffer significant agonies before their lives are allowed to end. It’s not as gory or gormless as its precursor though, and does a much better job of living up to the macabre label. Most of the horror here comes from witnessing the inevitable, from seeing a scene build to an obvious tragedy and being powerless to stop it. Some of the best plotlines here involve lost children or love triangles that give the sinister events a more grounded base.
The drama unfolds in short vignettes, arranged chronologically along the lifelines of the players in question. These vignettes are single scrollable scenes which contain a handful of puzzles to solve in the course of reaching a generally obvious result. It might be as charming as getting a gentleman to propose to a lady, as painful as sending a young man off to war, or as nefarious as dropping a young boy down a well. Scenes should take about 10-15 minutes to complete, during which you’ll uncover more clues to the overarching mystery and perhaps a few hints as to the nature of Rusty Lake itself.
The big improvement here for me is the quality of the puzzles, which are all far more sensical and thematically consistent than those in Hotel. Having single scenes focused around a central puzzle or puzzles helps limit potential flailing and allows each puzzle to do more in service to the story. I only found myself stumped in a few places, and this time I didn’t feel like it was because the puzzles were badly designed. Everything had a purpose and a logic to it, and that gave the game a more cohesive feel overall.
The only aspect I found weaker this time was the ending, unfortunately enough. By the third generation of characters it should be clear what the ultimate goal of the game is, and when you reach the end it just kinda happens and then fades to black. There’s no real revelation aside from the immediate result of your actions, and it falls a lot flatter than the insane reveals at the end of Hotel. I did play through the New Game+ style continuation to see the secret ending and while I liked that one more, it still didn’t do much to satisfy my curiosities.
While there are obviously links between Rusty Lake Hotel and Roots, they’re minor enough that you wouldn’t miss much by skipping Hotel. It’s unfortunate the story doesn’t take more advantage of the otherworldly weirdness of its predecessor but Roots is a strong enough game to stand on its own and command your attention for a few hours. The disturbing scenes and thematic puzzles do an excellent job of gripping the player as they uncover the secrets of this sad family, and only fail to completely pay off at the very end. As long as you’re not expecting something mind-blowing in the conclusion, though, this one definitely succeeds where Rusty Lake Hotel stumbled.
Did you enjoy this review? I certainly hope so, and I certainly hope you'll check out more of them at https://goldplatedgames.com/ or on my curation page!Show moreShow less
3.7 hours at review32 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
This wasn't an all-around bad game, per se, as I really did enjoy a few of the puzzles. On the whole, however, I wasn't a fan of the dark atmosphere the game was going for. I've played my fair share of games that feature blood and gore, but there was something really unsettling about this particular game that left a sour taste in my mouth. I also had some issues with the controls at times, where I had several puzzles I looked up on Youtube out of sheer frustration, only to realize I was doing the correct thing, but I needed to click in a slightly different spot for the game to register what I was doing. Overall, it's not bad, but definitely not my cup of tea.
I realize this game has a fairly strong cult following, and I do understand why this game would appeal to people. If you like dark point and click adventure games, or are a fan of other Rusty Lake games, then disregard this and play away. For others, maybe watch a few minutes of gameplay first to see what you're getting yourself into before you start playing.Show moreShow less
6.3 hours at review13 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.
