Rusty Lake’s latest entry in its beloved point-and-click franchise launched on Steam this week, and it’s already proving to be one of the studio’s most successful releases yet. Servant of the Lake dropped on August 13 with a 25% launch discount, and within days it has earned an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating from over 2,900 player reviews on Steam.
Developed and published by Rusty Lake, the Dutch studio behind the Cube Escape series, The Past Within, and Underground Blossom, the game puts you in the shoes of a servant reporting for duty at the infamous Vanderboom estate. What starts as straightforward housekeeping — straightening portraits, doing laundry, welcoming guests — quickly spirals into something far darker as you assist the family with their alchemical experiments and piece together what’s really happening behind the estate’s closed doors.
The game is set during the era of Aldous and William Vanderboom, placing it decades before the events of Rusty Lake: Roots. Fans of the series will recognize the eerie atmosphere and surreal puzzle design that has become Rusty Lake’s signature, but the studio describes this as their most ambitious production to date. A dedicated team spent over two and a half years crafting the narrative, art, puzzles, and a fully voiced cast of characters, along with an original soundtrack by Victor Butzelaar.
At launch, Servant of the Lake peaked at nearly 29,000 concurrent players on Steam, a remarkable number for a premium indie point-and-click adventure. The game is currently priced at $5.99 USD on Steam (25% off from its regular $7.99 USD), and the discount runs through August 27. Rusty Lake is also running a 50% off sale across its entire back catalog on Steam and itch.io, so this is an ideal time to dive into the full Vanderboom storyline.
As part of the launch celebrations, the studio has also put together a Vanderboom Bloodline Bundle on Steam that pairs Servant of the Lake with Rusty Lake: Roots at a special combined price — perfect for newcomers who want to experience the complete family saga in order.
If you’ve been curious about Rusty Lake’s catalog but never jumped in, Servant of the Lake offers an accessible starting point with streamlined puzzles and a self-contained story, while still rewarding longtime fans with deep connections to the broader series lore. You can find it on Steam.
Read the official launch announcement on Rusty Lake’s blog.
Dan Kowalski reviews games by listening to what they do before believing what they promise. He cares about responsive combat, purposeful sound design, satisfying movement, and whether a game respects the player’s time. Dan will forgive technical roughness when the underlying experience is exceptional. He will forgive almost anything for a brilliant combat system—but never a tutorial that refuses to stop talking.
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