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Cube Escape: The Mill

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4.5/5 (223 votes)

Things are getting weird. ... well, weird-ER in the popular escape series by Rusty Lake. You find yourself in an old mill full of strange machinery that isn't working, and a lot of secrets too. Though some puzzles aren't as intuitive as you may like, the plot takes unexpected directions, and things are just as creepy and startling as ever.

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Walkthrough Guide


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My first walkthrough...here we go!

First the map of the mill

Click “The Living Room” it is the only part of the map available to you

The Living Room

First Wall:

You’re looking at a strange machine with a large gear to the right. Experiment with the arrows on the machine to see how the mechanism works. Turn left.

Second Wall

More large gears connected to the first are on this wall. Turn left again.

Third Wall

There is a picture of the mill map on the wall. You can use this map to skip to other areas once you’ve unlocked them. There is a stove in front of you. Two drawers and the large door on the stove open. Take the pot of water on the stove.

Look on the table. Take the matches. The other item is a key mold that you can’t take.

Take the stack of wood to the left of the table. Look up.

The Ceiling

On the ceiling you see a door with a golden lock that requires a key and something hidden in the cobweb.

Use the matches to burn away the cobweb. Take the key that remains. Look back down.

Turn left.

Fourth Wall

Here you’ll find a locked cabinet that requires a key. There is a locked door that requires a code. Click the door and see that the hint for the code is a church.

Use the key you got from the ceiling to open the cabinet.

Inside you’ll find…an old woman! Click the cabinet to get closer. Click the woman and she’ll open her mouth. Click her mouth and…

Inside you’ll find her teeth are covered in dots on top and roman numerals on the bottom. You want to eliminate teeth by selecting teeth on top and bottom that add up to the same number. You can only choose up to two teeth from each row at a time. Click the gold tooth to reset.

Click 4-dots and 6-dots then X
Click 1-dot then I
Click 5-dots then IV and I
Click 3-dots then II and I
Click 3-dots and 2-dots then V
Click 2-dots then I and I
Click 2-dots then II

Take the gold tooth.

Back out and turn right

Third Wall

Open the top drawer on the oven. Place the wood in here and light it with the matches.

Place the gold tooth on top of the lit logs and close the drawer.

Open the bottom drawer and remove the liquid gold.

Back away from the stove and click the table. Open the mold, place the liquid gold inside and replace to mold cover. Open the cover again and remove the gold key.

Back away from the table and click up to look at the ceiling.

Use the gold key on the ceiling. And climb the ladder.

Upstairs

First Wall

You are facing more gears and two windows. The view from the right window shows an impressive view of a lake, mountain and a church.

There is a parrot sitting in the left window. Click the parrot and he’ll poop on the window ledge. Pick up the parrot poop. Turn left.

Second Wall

Here is a spinning wheel, a flower pot and a note. Read the creepy note from Mr. Owl if you want nightmares and a hint as to what the machine in the living room is for.

Use the water from the stove on the sprout in the flower pot. You’re told the soil isn’t fertile. Use the parrot poop to fertilize the soil. Back away from the pot and notice grass grew.

Click on the pot again and take the scissors from behind it. Use them to cut the grass. Turn left.

Three Wall

The ladder leads back down to the living room. Click the picture on the right, you probably recognize the couple. Note the symbols at the top of the picture frame. Click the loose corner of the picture multiple times to reveal another note from Mr. Owl.

Click the note on the left. You’re looking at a diagram of a cow udder. Note which teat corresponds to each symbol from the picture frame.

Feed the grass to the cow. You have to click her head to get her to chew and click her again to get her to swallow. Click her udder.

Place the now empty pot on the floor under the udder.

Click the cow’s teats in the order determined by the picture frame.

Fourth, second, first, second, third, fourth

Nothing comes out until you finish.

Pick up the pot of milk. Turn left.

Fourth Wall

There is a grandfather clock with a locked cabinet and hands on the face you can adjust. There is a television and a cabinet with a phone on it. Remove the knitting needles from the left side of the cabinet and the binoculars from the right.

Click the TV and turn it on with the large button. Click the button again to change the channel *shudder*

Back away from the TV and noticed the image changed. Remember this guy? Click the TV again.

Click the button and the man disappears. Click it again and he reappears with a phone. The phone ringing.

Back away from the television and answer the phone. Click the phone to progress through the dialogue.

Back away from the phone and note the TV image has changed again. Click the TV.

Click the button and watch the image. Gears are turning.

Back away from the TV. Notice the clock is shaking. Turn left.

First Wall

Use the binoculars on the right window to get a good look at the church.

Zoom in multiple times with the binoculars. Note the number on the church is 1384. This is the code to the door in the living room.

Turn right twice and go down the ladder.

The Living Room

Turn left to face the door.

Click on the door and enter the code 1384. Open the door and head down the stairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

First wall

You are, indeed, facing a large wheel that isn’t turning. A trough leads from the wheel to the right. Turn right.

Second wall

The trough continues through a contraption and ends beneath a barred window. The contraption has a lever you can’t flip yet. Zoom in on the top of the window.

Note the time listed is 6:10. Back away and turn right.

Third Wall

You’re facing the stairs leading to the living room. The duck swims if you click on him. There are a few plants growing out of the damp wall. Turn right.

Fourth Wall

There is a wheel and a panel in the wall. Turn the wheel, the panel opens and the water level begins to rise. No worries, it stops rising before things get dangerous. If you turn away and turn back a fish appears. The fish swims if you click on it. Go all the way back to the upstairs.

Upstairs

Face the clock and set it to 6:10. The clock is now unlocked. Open the clock and…

JUMP SCARE. Click the body. Continue clicking the body until it disappears off the right side of the screen. Turn right.

Continue clicking the body until, *sigh*, it falls down to the living room. Go down the ladder to the living room. Turn left.

The detective is back on TV. Click the TV. Keep clicking the TV and watch the detective put the black cube and then the white cube in the screen. When the detective disappears and the cube remains click the button one last time. A white light fades in and then out. Turn left.

Notice the beam of white light in the right window. Check it out with the binoculars.

The light is going into the body of the detective. Click this scene again and Mr. Owl appears. Another click and it starts to rain. One last click brings you back to the wide view where you see the gears are turning. Go back downstairs to the living room.

The Living Room

Turn to face the machine. Note the gears are turning down here as well. Someone hung the body up for us….thanks?

This is unpleasant. Use the arrows to put the woman’s head in the machine. You don’t have to get it exactly. The light will come on when she is placed correctly. If the light is NOT on and you can’t move the arrows anymore, face a different wall and then turn back toward the machine.

Go back to the old woman in the cabinet. Give her the knitting needles then cut her hair. Go back upstairs.

Upstairs

Face the spinning wheel. Put the hair on the spindle and then press the foot pedal. Remove the “wool” from the spinning wheel. Go back downstairs.

The Living Room

Give the wool to the old woman. Click her and she should ask for warm milk.

Take the pot of milk and put it on the stove. It heats instantly. Take the hot milk and give it to the old woman.

After she drinks the milk click her and she’ll make you an oven mitt. Click her again and she’ll ask for grilled duck. Head downstairs to the wheel to get some duck.

The Wheel

Right now the duck is not fat enough to make a good meal. You have to feed him plants. Click him and he’ll swim to the lowest plant on the far right and eat it. Now you have to raise the water to the right level to get him to eat the other two plants.

Once the duck eats the third plant his head appears to fall off. Grab him and go back to the living room.

The Living Room

Put the fat duck inside the oven and shut the door. He cooks instantly. Take out the grilled duck with the oven mitt.

Give the grilled duck to the old woman. Click her and she’ll eat it. Click again and she’ll knit you a net. Click again and she’ll ask for grilled fish. Go downstairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Use the net on the fish to catch it. That was easy. Go back to the living room.

The Living Room

Put the fish in the oven and close the door. Open the door and remove the instantly grilled fish with the oven mitt.

Give the fish to the old woman. Click her and she’ll eat it. Click again and she’ll knit you a strong rope. Take the rope and face the machine.

Select the rope and click the large gear on the right. The rope will connect the machine to the gear and the second light will come on.

Click the window of the machine where the woman’s face is. Two brain hemispheres appear. Click the brain.

You’ll see a close up of the brain hemispheres and a place to enter a three digit code on the left.

Click the brain again and you’ll see twelve blank squares. Click again and six pictures appear. This is a matching game. You have a few seconds to memorize where each pictures match is.

Match all the pictures and the white cube appears. Click it and the white cube comes out of the machine. Pick it up and head down the stairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Make sure the small wheel is turned so panel is open and the water level is rising. This turns the large wheel. Face the contraption.

The water should be running through the contraption. Place the white cube in the top of the contraption and flip the lever. The cube falls down and then disappears. As the cube disappears, three numbers appear in the window.

I could barely make them out but they are 257

Go back up to the living room.

The Living Room

Face the machine and click the window with the brain hemispheres again.

Enter the 3-digit code to the left and flick the switch. You’ll have to play the matching game again. This time the pictures are less pleasant.

Once the matching game is solved the second time. The black cube appears. Click it and it will come out of the machine. Collect the black tube. Go downstairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Put the black cube in the wheel and flick the lever. Things go dark outside. Go Upstairs.

Upstairs

There are a few spooky things to look at. The most important is the shadow person now standing next to the spinning wheel.

Click the shadow to progress through the dialogue. It will ask you to leave, but I couldn’t find anywhere else to go.

The shadow person stops talking, disappears and it looks like that’s it!

You’re looking at the ceiling. Note the location of the golden lock and the spider web. Click the down arrow

35 Comments

Ooh... OOOoOh... OOOOOOOH! Yaaas i'm so excited! This series has been amazing so far, lets see if this one can top the others!

Reply

I've been waiting for days! Let's see it!

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Patreon Crew SonicLover September 5, 2015 1:37 PM

Interesting game. Managed to beat it unaided, after a few twists.

I got stuck frustratingly early on, but pulled through. In case anyone gets stuck in the same place:

You'll see different parts of the ceiling depending on where you are when you look up.

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@soniclover: I"m stuck shortly after that:

I know I have to melt the golden tooth, but can't for the life of me figure out how... have hot water, have no idea what the wheel thing that moves the chain hanging from the ceiling is...

anyway, thanks if you can help! :)

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hatospali September 5, 2015 1:58 PM replied to betcaro

Just take the gold into the fire!

Reply

@hatospali,

and here I was assuming it had to be much more complicated! :)

Reply
hatospali September 5, 2015 2:15 PM replied to betcaro

Nevermind! I got stuck too a little bit later in a similar way:

I couldn't pick out the key from the mould

and now I don't know what to do again, but I keep tryin' alone for a while...

Reply
betcaro September 5, 2015 2:43 PM replied to hatospali

only read if you want an answer:

did you find a golden lock? Look everywhere and from all angles (remember the ceiling hint from before.)

Reply

Thankfully (?), jump scares don't really work when your game is lagging. I managed to get through with no hints!

Reply

My first walkthrough...here we go!

First the map of the mill

Click “The Living Room” it is the only part of the map available to you

The Living Room

First Wall:

You’re looking at a strange machine with a large gear to the right. Experiment with the arrows on the machine to see how the mechanism works. Turn left.

Second Wall

More large gears connected to the first are on this wall. Turn left again.

Third Wall

There is a picture of the mill map on the wall. You can use this map to skip to other areas once you’ve unlocked them. There is a stove in front of you. Two drawers and the large door on the stove open. Take the pot of water on the stove.

Look on the table. Take the matches. The other item is a key mold that you can’t take.

Take the stack of wood to the left of the table. Look up.

The Ceiling

On the ceiling you see a door with a golden lock that requires a key and something hidden in the cobweb.

Use the matches to burn away the cobweb. Take the key that remains. Look back down.

Turn left.

Fourth Wall

Here you’ll find a locked cabinet that requires a key. There is a locked door that requires a code. Click the door and see that the hint for the code is a church.

Use the key you got from the ceiling to open the cabinet.

Inside you’ll find…an old woman! Click the cabinet to get closer. Click the woman and she’ll open her mouth. Click her mouth and…

Inside you’ll find her teeth are covered in dots on top and roman numerals on the bottom. You want to eliminate teeth by selecting teeth on top and bottom that add up to the same number. You can only choose up to two teeth from each row at a time. Click the gold tooth to reset.

Click 4-dots and 6-dots then X
Click 1-dot then I
Click 5-dots then IV and I
Click 3-dots then II and I
Click 3-dots and 2-dots then V
Click 2-dots then I and I
Click 2-dots then II

Take the gold tooth.

Back out and turn right

Third Wall

Open the top drawer on the oven. Place the wood in here and light it with the matches.

Place the gold tooth on top of the lit logs and close the drawer.

Open the bottom drawer and remove the liquid gold.

Back away from the stove and click the table. Open the mold, place the liquid gold inside and replace to mold cover. Open the cover again and remove the gold key.

Back away from the table and click up to look at the ceiling.

Use the gold key on the ceiling. And climb the ladder.

Upstairs

First Wall

You are facing more gears and two windows. The view from the right window shows an impressive view of a lake, mountain and a church.

There is a parrot sitting in the left window. Click the parrot and he’ll poop on the window ledge. Pick up the parrot poop. Turn left.

Second Wall

Here is a spinning wheel, a flower pot and a note. Read the creepy note from Mr. Owl if you want nightmares and a hint as to what the machine in the living room is for.

Use the water from the stove on the sprout in the flower pot. You’re told the soil isn’t fertile. Use the parrot poop to fertilize the soil. Back away from the pot and notice grass grew.

Click on the pot again and take the scissors from behind it. Use them to cut the grass. Turn left.

Three Wall

The ladder leads back down to the living room. Click the picture on the right, you probably recognize the couple. Note the symbols at the top of the picture frame. Click the loose corner of the picture multiple times to reveal another note from Mr. Owl.

Click the note on the left. You’re looking at a diagram of a cow udder. Note which teat corresponds to each symbol from the picture frame.

Feed the grass to the cow. You have to click her head to get her to chew and click her again to get her to swallow. Click her udder.

Place the now empty pot on the floor under the udder.

Click the cow’s teats in the order determined by the picture frame.

Fourth, second, first, second, third, fourth

Nothing comes out until you finish.

Pick up the pot of milk. Turn left.

Fourth Wall

There is a grandfather clock with a locked cabinet and hands on the face you can adjust. There is a television and a cabinet with a phone on it. Remove the knitting needles from the left side of the cabinet and the binoculars from the right.

Click the TV and turn it on with the large button. Click the button again to change the channel *shudder*

Back away from the TV and noticed the image changed. Remember this guy? Click the TV again.

Click the button and the man disappears. Click it again and he reappears with a phone. The phone ringing.

Back away from the television and answer the phone. Click the phone to progress through the dialogue.

Back away from the phone and note the TV image has changed again. Click the TV.

Click the button and watch the image. Gears are turning.

Back away from the TV. Notice the clock is shaking. Turn left.

First Wall

Use the binoculars on the right window to get a good look at the church.

Zoom in multiple times with the binoculars. Note the number on the church is 1384. This is the code to the door in the living room.

Turn right twice and go down the ladder.

The Living Room

Turn left to face the door.

Click on the door and enter the code 1384. Open the door and head down the stairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

First wall

You are, indeed, facing a large wheel that isn’t turning. A trough leads from the wheel to the right. Turn right.

Second wall

The trough continues through a contraption and ends beneath a barred window. The contraption has a lever you can’t flip yet. Zoom in on the top of the window.

Note the time listed is 6:10. Back away and turn right.

Third Wall

You’re facing the stairs leading to the living room. The duck swims if you click on him. There are a few plants growing out of the damp wall. Turn right.

Fourth Wall

There is a wheel and a panel in the wall. Turn the wheel, the panel opens and the water level begins to rise. No worries, it stops rising before things get dangerous. If you turn away and turn back a fish appears. The fish swims if you click on it. Go all the way back to the upstairs.

Upstairs

Face the clock and set it to 6:10. The clock is now unlocked. Open the clock and…

JUMP SCARE. Click the body. Continue clicking the body until it disappears off the right side of the screen. Turn right.

Continue clicking the body until, *sigh*, it falls down to the living room. Go down the ladder to the living room. Turn left.

The detective is back on TV. Click the TV. Keep clicking the TV and watch the detective put the black cube and then the white cube in the screen. When the detective disappears and the cube remains click the button one last time. A white light fades in and then out. Turn left.

Notice the beam of white light in the right window. Check it out with the binoculars.

The light is going into the body of the detective. Click this scene again and Mr. Owl appears. Another click and it starts to rain. One last click brings you back to the wide view where you see the gears are turning. Go back downstairs to the living room.

The Living Room

Turn to face the machine. Note the gears are turning down here as well. Someone hung the body up for us….thanks?

This is unpleasant. Use the arrows to put the woman’s head in the machine. You don’t have to get it exactly. The light will come on when she is placed correctly. If the light is NOT on and you can’t move the arrows anymore, face a different wall and then turn back toward the machine.

Go back to the old woman in the cabinet. Give her the knitting needles then cut her hair. Go back upstairs.

Upstairs

Face the spinning wheel. Put the hair on the spindle and then press the foot pedal. Remove the “wool” from the spinning wheel. Go back downstairs.

The Living Room

Give the wool to the old woman. Click her and she should ask for warm milk.

Take the pot of milk and put it on the stove. It heats instantly. Take the hot milk and give it to the old woman.

After she drinks the milk click her and she’ll make you an oven mitt. Click her again and she’ll ask for grilled duck. Head downstairs to the wheel to get some duck.

The Wheel

Right now the duck is not fat enough to make a good meal. You have to feed him plants. Click him and he’ll swim to the lowest plant on the far right and eat it. Now you have to raise the water to the right level to get him to eat the other two plants.

Once the duck eats the third plant his head appears to fall off. Grab him and go back to the living room.

The Living Room

Put the fat duck inside the oven and shut the door. He cooks instantly. Take out the grilled duck with the oven mitt.

Give the grilled duck to the old woman. Click her and she’ll eat it. Click again and she’ll knit you a net. Click again and she’ll ask for grilled fish. Go downstairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Use the net on the fish to catch it. That was easy. Go back to the living room.

The Living Room

Put the fish in the oven and close the door. Open the door and remove the instantly grilled fish with the oven mitt.

Give the fish to the old woman. Click her and she’ll eat it. Click again and she’ll knit you a strong rope. Take the rope and face the machine.

Select the rope and click the large gear on the right. The rope will connect the machine to the gear and the second light will come on.

Click the window of the machine where the woman’s face is. Two brain hemispheres appear. Click the brain.

You’ll see a close up of the brain hemispheres and a place to enter a three digit code on the left.

Click the brain again and you’ll see twelve blank squares. Click again and six pictures appear. This is a matching game. You have a few seconds to memorize where each pictures match is.

Match all the pictures and the white cube appears. Click it and the white cube comes out of the machine. Pick it up and head down the stairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Make sure the small wheel is turned so panel is open and the water level is rising. This turns the large wheel. Face the contraption.

The water should be running through the contraption. Place the white cube in the top of the contraption and flip the lever. The cube falls down and then disappears. As the cube disappears, three numbers appear in the window.

I could barely make them out but they are 257

Go back up to the living room.

The Living Room

Face the machine and click the window with the brain hemispheres again.

Enter the 3-digit code to the left and flick the switch. You’ll have to play the matching game again. This time the pictures are less pleasant.

Once the matching game is solved the second time. The black cube appears. Click it and it will come out of the machine. Collect the black tube. Go downstairs to the wheel.

The Wheel

Put the black cube in the wheel and flick the lever. Things go dark outside. Go Upstairs.

Upstairs

There are a few spooky things to look at. The most important is the shadow person now standing next to the spinning wheel.

Click the shadow to progress through the dialogue. It will ask you to leave, but I couldn’t find anywhere else to go.

The shadow person stops talking, disappears and it looks like that’s it!

You’re looking at the ceiling. Note the location of the golden lock and the spider web. Click the down arrow

Reply

NOOOOO! MRS CROW! COW FRIEND! I need a moment...

Reply
North by Down September 5, 2015 10:37 PM

About the dialogue at the end:

Remember the phone dialogue?

The voice saying those things is the voice of the player character.

Reply

I accidentally lost my

hot milk

Is there any way to get more?

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Patreon Crew SonicLover September 6, 2015 8:59 AM replied to Kay Paulson

@Kay:
How did you do that? It shouldn't be possible to.

Reply

The atmosphere in these games is just wonderful. The "jump scares" were actually pretty mild, I thought. I really enjoy how none of the puzzles are straightforward - always a twist. And perhaps my favorite detail is

the voice of the shadow figure. (Probably didn't need a spoiler for that. Eh.

Something in the story I don't understand...wait...one of numerous things in the story I don't understand is

the good and bad memories were clearly extracted from the body of the murdered girl by your actions, but the shadow says to you that YOUR memories are part of the lake now. So was I supposed to be a disembodied spirit of the girl extracting my own memories? Seems unlikely as that wouldn't add up. Then, who was the guy that was supposedly delivered to me by Mr. Owl? And I can't help but think of Tootsie Pops now.

Anyway, I'm pretty lost as to who's who, including me.

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Snarfhead September 6, 2015 10:52 AM replied to Kay Paulson

@Kay Yes, I also had that happen

by clicking on the pan when down in the basement. Guess it empties into the water. That actually had me sidetracked for a while, because I thought I was supposed to do that for some reason AND you can refill the pan with water then.

Anyway, just

go back up with the empty pan and milk the cow again.

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Billy Nitro September 6, 2015 12:19 PM

I think I encountered a glitch.

I got stuck twice after giving the old lady the hot milk. The walk through says she's apparently supposed to drink it and give me an oven mitt. All she does is shrug whenever I click and no matter how many screens I visit, she never does anything differently.

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Loss of item

I am not able to get back the milk. I did try to milk the cow again, but got nothing. So I thought I had to feed the cow before it gave milk, but that did not work either.

Alas, I had to start over

Reply

@Soniclover

All you have to get to get a huge fiasco, is to have that milk highlighted and click the water in the basement.

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Thorzdad September 6, 2015 3:49 PM replied to Billy Nitro

I encountered the same problem with the old lady. I just kept clicking on her and eventually she drank the milk. Not sure why it finally worked, though.

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I have been playing at Jay is Games for some time, almost always escape games, but have never created an account or left comments. I had to do that today to convey thanks and praise to crestlove. This is your very first walkthrough?! Well done, you! Really excellent.

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FOR THOSE UNSURE OF THE STORY SO FAR:

You play the game as Mr Crow, the boatman/crow-headed man from the previous games. You live at Rusty Lake with your wife as shown in the picture on the wall and are one of the caretakers of the lake along with Mr Owl. Your dialogue is black with white text and you are the one speaking at the endgame. When You extract memories for the lake you accidentally create a hostile spirit from the woman, who proceeds to murder your wife and cow friend. It is implied this is not the first hostile spirit to emerge from the process and Mr Owl is looking for a solution.

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crestlove September 7, 2015 3:00 PM replied to Billy Nitro

Does she have the knitting needles and the wool?

Reply

Sorry for this glitch. We've uploaded a new version!

Reply
Patreon Donator Infant Tyrone September 7, 2015 11:47 PM replied to North by Down

I love to see that Overlook Hotel carpet as wallpaper.

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Billy Nitro September 8, 2015 7:39 PM replied to crestlove

She did, but apparently there's a fix for it now!

Reply
Billy Nitro September 8, 2015 7:41 PM replied to RustyLake.com

Much appreciated! It was good to play through to the end.

Reply
dailytherapyshop September 21, 2015 1:00 AM

I encountered a problem/glitch?

I put the rope in the machine, and it appears connected, but the light doesn't turn on, so I can't move forward using the machine.

Reply
SamanthaWins September 25, 2015 12:14 AM

HUGE SPOILERS/THEORIES/TRAIN OF THOUGHT AHEAD (EXCUSE EXCESSIVE USE OF PARENTHETICAL STATEMENTS AND WORDS IN GENERAL):

Came back like two weeks after playing through the first time to say that I've been thinking about the game and the series and only just figured out that the strange voice we've been hearing since Seasons is us (at least in this game - we play as Mr. Crow) and the phantom looking chap is the young woman's belligerent spirit after having all those horrible memories dredged up. At the end, "your memories belong to the lake now" is us (Mr. Crow) telling the phantom as politely as possible (Rusty Lake has more memories to get through, dear. All in a day's work.) to give in and relinquish control to the Lake. We know this because Mr. Owl wrote us to say that this could happen when dealing with the dark memories (the black boxes). What I can't figure out is why a similar-looking phantom was in her memories to begin with. (You see it when playing the matching puzzle in the machine in the Mill) Lemme just explore that a bit and see if I end up a little less confused:

When I first played Seasons, I thought that these black phantoms were a personification of the individual's depression or illness (and in Seasons, we would then appear to be playing as that depression, or, possibly, coming back to it with more seasoned eyes, an employee of Rusty Lake taking on that form -- we see ourselves as such when we look in the mirror); I discarded the theory but it makes sense to me again. So the woman (in Seasons still) was either murdered or did commit suicide, but it's unclear which. Perhaps some force from Rusty Lake poisoned her mind and drove her to suicide. Rusty Lake seems to target those struggling with mental health issues, and feeds off their vulnerability to harvest their memories, good and bad. In multiple games we consistently see references to medication, suicide, and Rusty Lake marketed to these poor souls as a mental health facility. Mr. Owl and Mr. Crow seem to have relinquished themselves to the power of the Lake as well, acting as somewhat reluctant/resigned stewards of the Lake rather than some dark predatory figures. I don't know - they just seem sort of sad to me. Seeing Mr. Crow's home and wife was (ironically) especially humanizing.

The reason, in the last game, Mr. Crow told Detective Dale Vandermeer that his place was already taken was because the young woman had, indeed, already called and presumably ended up dead as a result. (Were I in her position, I would have been sufficiently creeped the fuck out that a newspaper puzzle referenced highly specific items in my own home, but I digress.) Maybe she was already on her way to suicide and the Lake just nudged her in that direction. This could be a reason why the Lake chooses people on the brink of suicide: they might be more likely to be alone/lonely (so it's less suspicious if they disappear) and close to choosing death as it is. Another possibility is that negative emotions and memories are more powerful and therefore are more hearty fare for the Lake to consume, even if sometimes these scary violent phantoms emerge because of them. Indeed, most of the myriad boxes we encounter throughout the games are black rather than white.

Later in this game when we spot Dale on a distant shore, we know it's because he (we, the player, in Case 23) kept poking around and ended up at the cabin, where we (the player in the Mill) then picked him up and ferried him to what I guess is either a holding place or where Mr. Owl will simply dispose of him, since his arrival was not anticipated. Maybe his memories will be harvested next. Or is he even dead? Hope not! He's a plucky fella. But maybe, since the black figure appeared in his precinct, which very well might mark his death based on the track record of creepy black phantom guys so far. It could be his own spirit and he's already dead. I'd be interested to find out where all the bodies end up. The Lake (in which we fish up a carcass or two) sort of implies that they might end up at the bottom of the lake, which, like, duh. But still would be interesting to see. Does it harvest animal memories too? Also: Samsara Room appears to be entirely separate from this storyline of Rusty Lake, but we still see echoed therein the transportation of dead bodies via grandfather clock. Just throwing that in there.

Am I at all less confused or more enlightened after this tirade? Probably not, but I had to vomit up some thoughts before I can move on to actual life activities. There are a lot of really cool theories on the page for Case 23 and at this point I don't see any of them as contradictory as much as all equally entirely possible (some are more plausible than others, granted) but the discussion on this site has certainly made me think, if that was not already obvious by the length of this novel I've written.

Next question: How in the hell does Van Gogh fit into all of this?! Haha. As you can tell I'm suffering withdrawal having no more Rusty Lake games to play. I guess I'll just have to play through them all again. I may be back to this thread very soon, lol.

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SamanthaWins September 25, 2015 12:29 AM replied to SamanthaWins

Oops, want to tweak one thing about what I said:

Harvey (in Harvey's box), not Dale, is the one we see get ferried by Mr. Crow to the Mill, ostensibly, or wherever he's going to have his memories plucked out. Harvey is probably already dead at this point, yes? When Dale, in Case 23, is in the cabin and escapes via elevator, who knows what the hell happened to him and who the murderous stag figure is, for that matter. Dale probably was already dead too. I'm seeing the cabin as a sort of purgatory or in-between.

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ginganinja63 September 25, 2015 12:57 PM

When I click on the Jay is Games "escape" tab, the last few games don't show up. Why is this?

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SamanthaWins September 25, 2015 2:54 PM replied to ginganinja63

I would just go to the Rusty Lake website! (it's just rustylake .com hope this doesn't count as link-dropping) All the games are right on the homepage, albeit in a funky order

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I loved this game! It took me a few tries to get through it (I kept on having to put it down for a while and wait for the inspiration to strike!), but I really enjoyed the complexity (and the occasional *of course* when I finally got over a stuck point).

I'm also liking the storyline, but think I'm going to have to go back through all the games once we've got to the end before I have any real idea of what is going on!

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kanna October 7, 2015 6:16 PM replied to SamanthaWins

Took a while for me to get to the last two games somehow. I've enjoyed the entire series, but Case 23 and The Mill are the first ones I feel match, and exceed (respectively) my previous favourite, Seasons. :)

But anyway, @SamanthaWins:

Interesting theory. I'm surprised you didn't mention the contents of the hidden letter from Mr. Owl to Mr. Crow? Clearly the events in the game indicate he kept his promise. I suppose Mr. Owl brought Dale Vandermeer to the chapel, and then after the events that transpire in The Mill (game), Mr. Crow took Dale to the cabin and the events of the final chapter of Case 23 took place?

If anyone has a clearer idea of the timeline (and you're still reading) then please feel free to enlighten me! I might also see if there's a wiki for it too...

Reply
kanna October 7, 2015 6:38 PM replied to SamanthaWins

Actually it turns out there is a nicely laid out timeline on the game's blog here (and I was right about the order above, yay):
http://blog.rustylake.com/tag/timeline/

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