Creepy Rusty Lake atmosphere, art and music
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“it offers a fantastic atmosphere, excellent puzzles, and plenty of secrets and achievements to discover.”
Steam review · 3.2 h played ↗
The Past Within
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 95%Very Positive · 95%Rusty Lake2022Horror · Mystery · Puzzle
$5.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 6 h ago
The verdict
A short, atmospheric Rusty Lake co-op where two players relay information to solve easy puzzles. Skip it if you want real brain-teasers, a long game, or have no partner to buy a second copy for.
Great for
Couples and friends wanting a short, spooky, communication-driven co-op evening
Main risk
Puzzles are mostly relaying codes and it's over in about two hours
What players love
Communication and teamwork at the core
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Every puzzle depends on sharing information, making communication the heart of the experience.”
Steam review · 6.8 h played ↗
Fair difficulty, satisfying puzzles
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“it makes you think just hard enough to not make it boring but not hard enough to warrant looking up a tutorial.”
Steam review · 1.9 h played ↗
Clever co-op with no connection needed
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“The way it does co-op is ingenious. I wish more games used this method of cryptographics instead of forcing me to connect to an unstable matchmaking server.”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗
Replayable from the other perspective
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“the insect mechanic offers two different sets of puzzles and solutions so you can replay as whichever side you didn't play the first time”
Steam review · 1.4 h played ↗
Cheap, short and good value
Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews
“Amazing balance of price vs fun.”
Steam review · 2.5 h played ↗
What players complain about
Not really puzzles, just relaying codes
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“it's not a puzzle game but more like playing walkie talkie.”
Steam review · 1.8 h played ↗
Too easy compared to other Rusty Lake games
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Extremely easy. Maybe a puzzle for 5 year olds.”
Steam review · 1.5 h played ↗
Too short for the price
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“it is far too short for the price. Me and my wife finished a playthrough in 70 min which is not much entertainment time/ money.”
Steam review · 1.3 h played ↗
Repetitive tasks and little replay value
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“there's no difference between the bee and the butterfly”
Steam review · 3.3 h played ↗
Weak or senseless story
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“I expected a lot of lore to unfold between characters but it turns out nothing is even revealed.”
Steam review · 4.8 h played ↗
Disturbing content and gore
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews
“it very quickly becomes about desecrating a corpse for blood, flesh, and bone”
Steam review · 0.7 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Verified1 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 8+
Processor2.4GHz Dual Core
Memory1 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 9800 / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Storage1 GB available space
OSWindows 8+
Processor2.4GHz Dual Core
Memory1 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 9800 / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Storage1 GB available space
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