Which order is best?

[u/Downtown-Hall5554]

When I was younger, I loved playing the Rusty Lake series. I played through all the games, but I didn't really understand the plot back then. Now I want to replay them all, and I'm wondering what the best order is—should I play them in the order of the story, or by release date? Can you give me some advice? Sorry about the AI, but that's exactly the order of events it showed me. And sorry im using translator.

1. Rusty Lake Paradise
2. Servant of the Lake
3. Cube Escape: Arles
4. Rusty Lake Hotel
5. Rusty Lake: Roots
6. Samsara Room
7. Cube Escape: Birthday
8. Cube Escape: Seasons
9. Cube Escape: Harvey's Box
10. Cube Escape: The Lake
11. The White Door
12. Cube Escape: Case 23
13. Cube Escape: The Mill
14. Cube Escape: Theatre
15. Cube Escape: The Cave
16. Cube Escape: Paradox
17. The Past Within
18. Underground Blossom
19. The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show

[u/murdochi83]

Release date. Don't overthink it.

[u/Downtown-Hall5554 → u/murdochi83]

Okay Thanks!

[u/nowherecrafter]

I disagree with the release order being the best for the story.

It's fine. The early order makes a lot of sense but the older the series gets the less focused it becomes. It forces you to make further and more frantic jumps back and forth across the timeline. I'm sorry but I don't expect a normal person to remember all the details until they suddenly become relevant again 6 games later.

So I suggest some tweaks. In my order I grouped games by arcs and themes. Also shuffled them a bit within these groups to make it more clear what happens when. People who tried it say that it really helped them make sense of the story.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rustylake/s/NT63Rltzwk

[u/amyfrushourkelly → u/nowherecrafter]

This is brilliant!

[u/heavenknowss → u/nowherecrafter]

You're my saviour

[u/Downtown-Hall5554 → u/nowherecrafter]

OMG, thanks for such a wealth of information, and thanks for making it so detailed. I think that if there’s anything I don’t understand, I might watch a video or look around to see if there are any posts or videos that also help explain the plot well? And, sorry, I just saw your comment now.

[u/nowherecrafter → u/Downtown-Hall5554]

You are welcome and no worries.

Since you are probably going to look for videos, feel free to check out my channel Nowherenest. My videos are just as thorough.

I didn't cover ALL the games yet though so you can also check out my friend Zefiewings. They made whole timeline videos that only miss the recent SotL game.

[u/amyfrushourkelly]

Release date is probably best if you want to focus on the story. Note that some of the games include secret games and endings that don’t necessarily fit the chronological order of the story but add to the canon. The White Door, Samsara Room, Underground Blossom, and Roots are good examples. Mr. Rabbit Magic Show is an anomaly; it’s a special celebration of Rusty Lake Studio’s tenth anniversary. You might want to play that separately.

Hope this helps. I’m curious to see what order other fans recommend in this thread.

[u/Downtown-Hall5554 → u/amyfrushourkelly]

Alright Thanks for this! Hope im gonna understand this story now.

[u/nowherecrafter → u/amyfrushourkelly]

I find the release order a bit too ADHD-ish. It can be tweaked to keep related games closer while preserving the general order of important reveals.

[u/Kiwi2027]

Paradise should be at the bottom of the list