The Past Within
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| The Past Within | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Rusty Lake |
| Publisher | Rusty Lake |
| Composer | Victor Butzelaar |
| Series | Cube Escape |
| Engine | Unity[1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release |
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| Genre | Adventure |
| Mode | Multiplayer |
The Past Within is a 2022 adventure video game developed and published by Dutch studio Rusty Lake. It is a cooperative multiplayer game where two people must share clues to solve puzzles. It was initially released for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. A Nintendo Switch version was released in 2023.
Two players cooperate to solve puzzles. One player is in the past, and the other in the future. The Past Within features asymmetrical gameplay: both players must solve different puzzles, and they can neither see nor interact with the other person's puzzles. Clues in one time can affect puzzles in another, and actions taken by future-based player affect the past-based one. To complete the game, they must communicate effectively and describe each other's clues and puzzles. Players can switch roles and play again with a different set of puzzles.[2] The game does not require an internet connection.[3]
Development
Rusty Lake, the studio behind the game, originally intended The Past Within to be a single-player game with puzzles both inside a 3D box and outside of it. During playtesting, they were inspired to partition the puzzles so they were self-contained.[4] Rusty Lake released The Past Within for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows on November 2, 2022. They released a Nintendo Switch version on July 6, 2023.[5]