It is rather amazing when you play a series like Rusty Lake/Cube Escape. Where you can be 10 games down the rabbit hole and still not fully grasp what is going on. While Paradise might answer a question or two, it also raises a few more. The game is very pretty, and not all too difficult. It also happened to make me gag a time or two. Don't go into this with a weak stomach. Still I would 100% recommend this game and the series at large.

9 von 10
For those of you who are completely new to the series and want to play but don't know where to start, here's the order in which I've organised the entire Escape Cube story line (for reference only).

LINES:Seasons - Lake - Arles - Harvey's Box - Case 23 - The Mill - Rusty Lake Hontel - Birthday - Theatre - Rusty Lake Roots - The Cave - Rusty Lake Paradise - Paradox - The White Door - Samsara room

Rust Lake and White Door are available for purchase separately, while Paradox and Samsara room are free to play. The remaining nine games are included in the ‘’Cube Escape Collection‘’

An artistic, bizarre, surrealistic, legendary, epic and romantic puzzle series (with some ARG elements). Spent bout 50 hours of good time with this series game. If u love detective stories and some brain works, this is the game for u.

Recommended play order (chronological):

a, Samsara Room;
b, Cube Escape Collection 1 to 6 (From Seasons to The Mill);
c, Rusty Lake Hotel;
d, Cube Escape Collection 7 & 8 (Birthday and Theatre);
e, Rusty Lake Roots;
f, Cube Escape Collection 9 (The Cave);
g, Rusty Lake Paradise;
h, Cube Escape Paradox with DLC and the Movie;
i, The White Door;
j, The Past Within;
k, Underground Blossom.

As much as I loved Hotel and Roots, Paradise is a clear weak link in the series. Many of the puzzles are repetitive and mind numbing. To give an example that's not in the game, think of those wood block sliding puzzles where you have to clear a path to get something from one side to the next. Now imagine you figure out the winning strategy, and then you have to do it 9 more times just because. Instead of leaving you with a sense of pride or fulfillment at figuring out the solution, it ends up just feeling like a chore that you're happy to be done with.

Some puzzles give little to no indication of what the game expects you to do (the drum puzzle sticks out as particularly obtuse). Other puzzles require you to play through the game linearly-- even if you figure out the solution early on (this is true in at least chapter 10, when you have to spell a word.) Even more puzzles require unique interactions with the environment that aren't obvious or intuitive.

The storyline is more abstract than ever, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you're coming into this expecting some kind of denoument for the rest of the series you're in for a disappointment. There are some charming bits; the characters are on the whole more likeable and fun than in previous installments, and some of the secrets in the environment do a good job of building up atmosphere and dread. Between the interactions with the cast and the occassional fun puzzle, the game is worth a playthrough for fans, but it's definitely not worth 100%ing.

I love all the Rusty Lake games - the lore is fantastic. If you're not sure if you'll like this style of game, they have a bunch of shorter ones available on their website for free. Highly recommend

Rusty Lake Paradice is the root of the whole story, and to be understood best, you better play it after Cube Escape game and Rusty Lake Hotel, as well as Rusty Lake Roots. The story is about a young man named Jakob, the eldest son of Eilander family. He was away most of his life, barely remembering his childhood in Paradice island. He only returned after receiving a letter about his mother's passing. Upon arriving, he notices how eerie his family has become. He must uncover the secret of his family's island and bring back the buried memories.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049696271

The game plays the same as the whole series, but you are isolated on an island with your family instead of locked in a room. You have to pass ten plagues, each plague a chapter with its puzzles and objectives. The only drawbacks in this game are the backtracking and unclear objectives.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049696865

I liked the artwork and soundtracks of this game, but I found the puzzles a bit challenging compared to the previous ones; I didn't like that you need to do multiple rounds for each puzzle; it gets tedious. The characters are interesting, and the more you talk to them, the more you understand what they've been through. The story could be vague, but you'll understand it when you play the other games. This one is essential to understanding the previous games.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3049696705

Pros:
+Interesting story, the root of the whole series.
+Good soundtracks.
+Challenging puzzles.
+Eeirie atmosphere.
+Steam achievements.

Cons:
-The story could be confusing; to understand it, you must play the series' other games.
-No hinting system. Sometimes, you get stuck and don't know what to do next; the objectives are unclear.
-Multiple rounds for each puzzle tend to get tedious.

The chapters were quite long; some were enjoyable, and others were not, but overall, the game is excellent, and the story is intriguing. I love this series, and of course, I recommend you to play it.

Other Reviews:
Cube Escape Collection Review
Rusty Lake Hotel Review
Rusty Lake: Roots Review
Cube Escape: Paradox Review
The White Door Review
Underground Blossom Review
Samsara Room Review
The Past Within Reivew

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒

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This series never gets old for me because they keep on finding new ways to create puzzles that feel fresh and different.

If Hieronymus Bosch and David Lynch had a baby, this would be it.

_________________
PROS

+ Wonderful art style
+ Creepy and gorey at times without resorting to jumpscares
+ Excellent playtime per dollar spent
+ Moving Erik Satie style soundtrack
+ Solid storyline

_________________

CONS

- I couldn't Shift+Tab out of full screen
- There doesm't seem to be a quit button to exit the game

Overall a great entry to the series and a wonderful addition to the genre in general. The devs at Rusty Lake show no signs of fatigue and have consistently hit their mark with every installment since the Cube Escape games.

To be honest, just a few words can't describe the curiosity and amazement of this game.The interesting puzzle-solving makes you feel that it is really appropriate to solve the puzzle in this way every time, both unexpected and reasonable.

The plot of the game is probably that the protagonist received a letter from his father saying that his mother had passed away and the family needed him, so he returned to his home, which is Paradise Island, from outside. The theme of this work is: Ten Plagues. The theme is taken from "Exodus". It tells the story of the ancient Egyptian gods descending on Egypt and persuades the Pharaoh to return the freedom of the Israeli people.
The ten plagues include: blood plague, frog plague, lice plague, fly plague, plague plague, sore plague, ice plague, locust plague, darkness plague, and firstborn plague.

The protagonist experienced these disasters together with other members of the family, and finally experienced the firstborn disaster to sacrifice himself.The protagonist may know that he will sacrifice on this day before returning home, when the protagonist is burnt to death in the end,I really feel that the plot is really absurd and bizarre, and the puzzle-solving elements are rich and colorful, it won’t be difficult to play, and of course it’s also very educational.

Rusty Lake series are always worth playing!

:3

The night I played this I had a nightmare about having lice, so there's that

I've loved all the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape games so I bought this one immediately! Love the theme, and I love that the puzzles are usually something you can intuit (but with a walkthrough just in case), unlike some puzzle games where you end up trying every random thing in your inventory on anything you can find trying to figure out what to do

As usual the visuals and atmosphere are fantastically unsettling

And I still have no idea what any of this means for the plot

Basically I loved it, A+++