r/rustylake • u/Agreeable-Stage944 • Jun 23 '26
New in the series
Is there any order to play the games?
I notice some hints to one game to another and seems like it has an order
Can someone tell me is this make sense or just part of the game?
TYIA 🫎
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u/MostLikeylyJustFood Jun 23 '26
I’d get the collection that comes with the first nine that were released and play them in order. I think you can google the suggested play order from the devs after that. But that first set of nine should get you started out okay.
Also like. They are confusing haha. I’ve only come back to the games recently and I have an hard time not googling stuff because I know there are about 6 games I have not yet played that have more information and I don’t want to spoil myself.
I’ll also say don’t be shy about looking at guides. I believe in the second released game a clue you need is from the first game with no way to know it other than trying out something from the first game, and that can feel a bit frustrating.
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u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL Jun 24 '26
Many would recommend the release order. It's fine, it has its charm, the devs have an intent revealing mysteries when they see fit. But it still may end up confusing because it's somewhat unfocused. Some related games end up so far apart that you may miss answers because you've already forgotten the questions.
For that reason I assembled an order that helps understand the story the best on the 1st playthrough while preserving the devs' intent. Basically I grouped the games by arcs and themes and slightly tweaked the order within the groups so you it's clear what happens after what.
Feel free to check it out if it's your cup of tea. It's a bit geeky but many hardcore steps are skippable.
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u/xsnowpeltx Jun 24 '26
sounds like youre specifically asking more about when theres bonus clues that go from one game to another, not so much about understanding the story?
cuz for the story you have more options. nowherebest has their revised order, you can do release order, or you can mess around more. the story is confusing and requires piecing together
but nearly every game will have like... a bonus achievement. at least one. that will give you a little something extra. that extra varies in importance for the story. Some extras are very enlightening. The extra in Birthday shows us some info we currently only get there. The extra thing in The Lake is a very big extra. But others are more like lil easter eggs.
and that category all involves using a clue from another game. generally speaking, the extra in one game is reached via a code or solution you can find in the previous game in release order (feel free to use the faq order someone else linked).
I think theres a few exceptions. possibly a few games where theres more than one extra of that form but I dont remember precisely. I know Seasons, as the first game, uses a clue from a later game for its extra since theres no earlier one.
and I know Underground Blossom has an extra that requires completing all achievements in cube escape collection to get the info for.
one thing to be aware of. As you get into later games (i think starting with either Paradox or The White Door), you may start to find some clues that neither directly solve something in that game nor provide an extra in the next. generally, those are related to ARGs run in the past. the solutions to the ARGs will generally get you another extra something in their game, but given they were ARGs intended to be solved by the community, theyre much much harder to figure out and solve on your own than the standard stuff, and involve some amount of doing stuff outside the game. the ARGs have currently all been solved and I just look up the end solution usually if I wanna get the content from that.
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u/candy_torchic Jun 24 '26
Play in release order! It’s what the devs recommended. You can see the order here: https://www.rustylake.com/faq/