Choose Rusty Lake: Roots
Choose Rusty Lake: Roots if it's currently about 20% cheaper on the Steam Store. 1,696 Steam reviews back the pick.
Rusty Lake: Roots vs Light in the woods
Rusty Lake: Roots and Light in the woods 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 9 years older than Light in the woods (2025). Rusty Lake: Roots is currently ~20% cheaper on Steam than Light in the woods (3.99 USD vs. 4.99 USD). 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 Light in the woods
Choose Light in the woods if it's the newer release (2025) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Light in the woods launched in 2025.
Both Rusty Lake: Roots and Light in the woods 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 |  Light in the woods | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2016 | 2025 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure | Indie, Adventure |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Verified | Unrated |
| Price | 3.99 USD | 4.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 96.2% positive (1,696 reviews) | 3 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Rusty Lake | BadTaste Studio |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) is 9 years older than Light in the woods (2025).
- Rusty Lake: Roots is currently ~20% cheaper on Steam than Light in the woods (3.99 USD vs. 4.99 USD).
- Rusty Lake: Roots is Deck Verified on Steam Deck; Light in the woods has no Deck rating yet.
Rusty Lake: Roots vs Light in the woods — FAQ
- Should I play Rusty Lake: Roots or Light in the woods first?
- If you want chronology, Rusty Lake: Roots (2016) came out before Light in the woods (2025). 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 Light in the woods 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 run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Rusty Lake: Roots is rated Deck Verified by Valve. Light in the woods doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.