Cube Escape Collection Review

Dale Vandermeer, a homicide detective, is sent out to investigate the death of a woman. It becomes apparent rather quickly that this case is highly unusual. Before he knows it, Dale is caught up in the mystery of Rusty Lake.

The Cube Collection is the first offspring within the franchise of Rusty Lake, and this portfolio contains nine games. This bundle was created, and released on Steam, due to Flash becoming obsolete – in which the games were usually played through. These nine games were the first introduction into the universe, and are heavily inspired by the TV-series Twin Peaks. The game starts out with the investigation of a murdered woman, and leads the detective to a very mysterious hotel.

The nine games within the bundle serves as a backstory to what happend at the Hotel, and what the Cubes are. Besides the story of how Dale became involved with Rusty Lake, it is also the story of the Woman. The nine games have different themes, dealing with a different story, albeit connected. The first game, Seasons, has the player moving through four periods in time, different year and each a different season. Seasons revolves around the mysterious death of the Woman, and the apparent murder, a Shadow Figure. This iteration takes place within a family home in Spring 1964. As you move through the puzzles you collect cubes which opens up a new time period within the same house, with distinct differences – the house becomes more and more horrifying. Whenever you get through to the last season, you are prompted to return to earlier seasons as you will have gained clues through the playthrough that can unlock additional pieces of the story. This is a main part of the games – the ability to find hidden clues that unlocks puzzles in earlier or future games, making for a bit of replayability.

Next up is The Lake. Here the player is playing through the Woman as she is exploring an abandoned cabin at the Rusty Lake. This involves a lot of fishing puzzles, fishing up everything from clams to a corpse. The Woman encouters a Shadow Figure, and end up finding a Cube, in this case a black one.

The third game is called Arles.  In Arles you play as the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, and the story takes place within his house (specifically the bedroom) in a french city called Arles. Throughout the story a lot of parallels to van Gogs life and art is shown. You mix up absinthe (and drink it), fix up his broken paintings and even meets his real-life friend (and fellow painter) Paul Gauguin. As the real van Gogh was known for, you also cut off your own ear and use it in a puzzle in order to find a Black and White cube.

Fourth up is Harvey’s Box. Here you play as Harvey the parrot who is trapped within a cardboard box. It is our duty to help Harvey escape. Within the box are different items and puzzles, and with a little help from a pigeon Harvey is able to escape, only to come face to face with a Shadow Figure and a Black Cube.

Next up is Case 23, where you play as detective Dale Vandermeer investigating the death of the Woman. This chapter is split up into four sections. The first section takes place in the home of the Woman, with her lying dead on the floor. By going through the house, solving puzzles, Dale ends up calling Rusty Lake on the phone, but being told “Your place is already taken“.

Section two takes place in Dale’s office where he tries to string together the pieces and information he has on the Woman. In the third section Dale goes to the Chapel, where a large altar with different puzzles awaits his detective skills. Upon completing the puzzles, Dale finds a Black Cube. Upon placing the Black Cube within it’s rightful spot on the wall, the wall cracks open and reveals the Rusty Lake where The Crow is ready to take Dale to the Cabin in his rowboat. Section four is set in the Cabin where Dale through puzzle solving finds a secret elevator that takes him to the lake.

The sixth game is The Mill. Here the player plays as Mr. Crow trying to create cubes from within the Woman’s memories in order to feed these to Rusty Lake. Within the mill you find an old lady wanting for foods and drinks. Providing her these necessities she knits you different items needed for the puzzles. As you move through the Mill you find the contraption needed in order to create the Cubes. You move the body of the Woman into it, and working the memories within her brain extract the cubes corresponding happy or sad memories. In the end you meet a Shadow Figure holding Harvey telling you that your memories now belong to the lake.

Next up is Birthsday. Once again you play as Dale, although he is a bit younger here. As a nine year old, you are celebrating your birthsday back in 1939. After some puzzle solving someone knocks on the door, and peeping through the peep-hole you see a rabbit outside. He breaks down the door, and shoots up all the party guests (your mother, father and grandfather). It is now necessary to change the past and save your family. Dale succeeds this mission, and by using a Cube ends up going back in time before the shooting, arming his grandfather with a pistol so that he shoots the rabbit before the rabbit takes out the family.

Second to last is Theatre. Once again we play as Dale Vandermeer, continuing his elevator-ride down Rusty Lake. Here he visits the Theatre. A main part of this iteration is creating drinks for the patron at the bar. Another aspect, is the plays presented by Mr. Owl on the stage. There is six plays, each of them with a theme referring to Rusty Lake, and each of them being their own puzzle. The patron at the bar, a man named Bob, ends up with a headwound in which you travel through, to learn details about his involvement with the Woman. At the end Dale enters the elevator again to go further down.

The last installment within the bundle is The Cave. Here we control Mr. Crow explore a cave whilst helping Dale moving through the Lake. This part is split up in two different areas, the cave and the submarine. In the cave you fix puzzles in order to create an elixir that revives Mr. Owl, and opens up the room with the submarine. Entering the submarine you punch in coordinates in order to move through the lake, completing puzzles along the way. Whilst doing so, you fish up different cubes from within the lake. When done, you enter a White Cube and see the Woman and Dale get a contraption upon their heads, that extracts their memories. By combining a Black, Blue and White cube we create a Golden Cube, which we give to Dale and makes him ascent the elevator once again. And thus concludes the nine chapter events of The Cube Escape Collection.

Leaving on a cliffhanger, the Cube Escape Collection bundle opens up for the rest of the Rusty Lake series. There are quite a number of games that has come out as of now, spawning from these nine old Flash games. As a start to the franchise they are great – the story is intriguing, especially if you are a fan of Twin Peaks, and revel in the weirdness. The art style, and this goes for the entirety of the Rusty Lake series, is unique and charming. Not overly detailed by a long shot, but hand drawn and interesting to look at. The atmosphere is creepy and so is the puzzles. Some puzzles are even to be considered a bit revolting and gross. The puzzle can be a bit tricky (even hard) at times, though.

The music and ambience within the game is also well made, it adds to the creepy atmosphere and the overall weirdness they surely were going for. Voice acting is a bit lacking, but there are so few lines that it does not really matter. The game itself has some replayability, if the player pays attention to clues given throughout the game (a pen and paper is highly advisable when playing it), and helps expand on the lore of the series. You will be entertained for hours, and for the small price tag on the game it is a no-brainer. It is also rated overwhemingly positive on Steam, with good reason. If you like these types of games, and want an introduction into the Rusty Lake universe, this is a must.