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 Trance, Trauma
Rusty Lake: Roots and Trance, Trauma 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 7 years older than Trance, Trauma (2023). Rusty Lake: Roots scores higher on Steam reviews (96.2% positive) than Trance, Trauma (87.5% 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 Trance, Trauma
Choose Trance, Trauma if you want a Casual experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Trance, Trauma launched in 2023.
Both Rusty Lake: Roots and Trance, Trauma sit in Indie and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Rusty Lake: Roots |  Trance, Trauma | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2023 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Indie, Adventure, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Deck Playable |
| Price | 3.99 USD | 5.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 96.2% positive (1,696 reviews) | 87.5% positive (24 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Rusty Lake | Liu Zeren |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) is 7 years older than Trance, Trauma (2023).
- Rusty Lake: Roots scores higher on Steam reviews (96.2% positive) than Trance, Trauma (87.5% positive).
- Rusty Lake: Roots is currently ~33% cheaper on Steam than Trance, Trauma (3.99 USD vs. 5.99 USD).
- Steam Deck: Rusty Lake: Roots is Deck Verified, Trance, Trauma is Deck Playable.
Rusty Lake: Roots vs Trance, Trauma — FAQ
- Should I play Rusty Lake: Roots or Trance, Trauma first?
- If you want chronology, Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) came out before Trance, Trauma (2023). 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 Trance, Trauma 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.