Technical Information
Developer: Rusty Lake
Publisher: Rusty Lake
Release Date: January 29, 2016
Rusty Lake Hotel is a point-and-click game in which you work at a hotel and must keep the guests satisfied by fulfilling their desires. It has a touch of mystery and morbidity, and I believe fans of suspense and horror will feel a strong connection to the experience.
Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole
Graphics and UI
The visuals were the first thing that caught my attention when I saw the game in the store. I really like this unique concept, where the line work is stylized and the characters deviate from conventional standards.
The game’s artwork is very beautiful, with clear influences from the Victorian style. The animations are quite simple, but they blend well with the game’s aesthetic, creating a harmonious look without giving the impression of something poorly made or incomplete.
The only flaw is that some images are not high-quality and appear pixelated (the hotel wallpaper is a good example).
Menus are simple to understand and use. The mouse cursor doesn’t change when hovering over interactive objects. At first, this disheartened me because it didn’t clearly indicate which objects could be clicked. However, the game works perfectly, and it’s very easy to get used to the mechanics.
Soundtrack and Sound Effects
The soundtrack and sound effects follow the same direction as the artwork, everything in the game is pleasing in terms of aesthetics and interaction.
Gameplay
The puzzles range from obvious to easy and medium. Overall, they don’t present complex challenges, which makes the gameplay flow smoothly. Even when I got stuck at certain points, it never required exhausting reasoning or randomly trying items on interaction points. For players who struggle, the game includes an in-game walkthrough option, so there’s no need to look for an external guide.
The story is short, if you take a day off to play, you’ll finish it without much trouble. I completed it in around four hours.
The only thing that truly bothered me was the fact that the game runs in Flash. I don’t consider Flash a good platform for games, it always gives me a sense of instability, as if I were interacting with a web page rather than a standalone game.
Replayability and Game Retention
The game is short, and once you finish it, the puzzles will still be fresh in your mind. The experience is quite fun, but replaying it only becomes appealing once those memories begin to fade.
