Rusty Lake: Roots, a Side Scrolling Riddle Game

Rusty Lake: Roots brings you into a puzzling adventure where you play as James Vanderboom, who plants a seed in the garden of the estate he’s inherited following his uncle’s death.

What makes your game unique?

Rusty Lake: Roots is our tenth game taking place in the Rusty Lake universe. It tells the story of James Vanderboom inheriting a house and special seed from his uncle, who passed away. When he plants the special seed in the garden it grows into his family tree, filled with portraits of the different members of his family. Each portrait in this tree of life will give access to important family moments over the years: childbirth, going to war, finding a dead man in the closet, etc. Be aware, this is not an ordinary family. Many strange things will happen.

Rusty Lake: Roots is more than just a point and click adventure with 5+ hours of gameplay. The narrative is one of a kind, with unique hand-crafted art and pick-and-play gameplay. Being part of a bigger story that contains nine previous games means there are a lot of connections to past experiences in this universe. Last but not least, it’s also our own fundraising project, so that we — a two-man indie studio — can keep making free games as well with no IAP’s and almost no ads.

Why do you think you will win the Grand Prix this year?

Rusty Lake: Roots has been our biggest project so far. We have created our biggest narrative yet, within an already crazy world for players to get lost in. After developing eight Cube Escape games and Rusty Lake Hotel, we also think that Rusty Lake Roots is our best product so far, making it suitable to win the Grand Prix.