Choose Rusty Lake: Roots
Choose Rusty Lake: Roots if it's currently about 33% cheaper on the Steam Store. 1,696 Steam reviews back the pick.
Rusty Lake: Roots vs The Past Within
Rusty Lake: Roots and The Past Within both land in Indie, Adventure on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam. Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) is 6 years older than The Past Within (2022). Rusty Lake: Roots scores higher on Steam reviews (96.2% positive) than The Past Within (94.7% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose The Past Within
Choose The Past Within if you want the Multi-player, Online Co-op, and Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2022) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 3,780 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Rusty Lake: Roots and The Past Within sit in Indie and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (96.2% vs 94.7% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Rusty Lake: Roots |  The Past Within | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2022 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Indie, Adventure |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Verified |
| Price | 3.99 USD | 5.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 96.2% positive (1,696 reviews) | 94.7% positive (3,780 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | Rusty Lake | Rusty Lake |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) is 6 years older than The Past Within (2022).
- Rusty Lake: Roots scores higher on Steam reviews (96.2% positive) than The Past Within (94.7% positive).
- Rusty Lake: Roots is currently ~33% cheaper on Steam than The Past Within (3.99 USD vs. 5.99 USD).
- The Past Within has co-op; Rusty Lake: Roots does not.
- Both are Deck Verified.
Rusty Lake: Roots vs The Past Within — FAQ
- Which is better, Rusty Lake: Roots or The Past Within?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Rusty Lake: Roots sits at 96.2% positive (1,696 reviews), The Past Within at 94.7% (3,780). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Rusty Lake: Roots or The Past Within first?
- If you want chronology, Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) came out before The Past Within (2022). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Rusty Lake: Roots and The Past Within similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Adventure on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Does Rusty Lake: Roots have multiplayer like The Past Within?
- No. The Past Within supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op), while Rusty Lake: Roots is listed as single-player only.
- Do Rusty Lake: Roots and The Past Within both run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — both are Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve confirms they run with full controller support, legible text, and default settings out of the box.