Player Characters[]
The character being played in each game in the Rusty Lake series.
Bob[]
As her ex-boyfriend, Bob blames himself for Laura Vanderboom's death, which has driven him to alcoholism, and an unfriendly relationship with Dale.
- Player Character in: The White Door
- Appears in: Cube Escape: Case 23, Cube Escape: Theatre, Underground Blossom
Dale Vandermeer[]
A homicide detective for the local police, Dale Vandermeer is the one assigned to investigate the mysterious death of the unidentified 'Woman'. After a year of research and obsession, Dale eventually finds himself drawn to Rusty Lake, with the suggestion that his involvement there is not by chance.
- Player Character in: Cube Escape: Case 23, Cube Escape: Birthday, Cube Escape: Theatre, Cube Escape: Paradox
- Also appears in: Cube Escape: The Mill, Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: The Cave, The White Door
Harvey[]
A pet parrot, first seen in the ownership of the Woman, Harvey has a much more complicated life than initially suggested. A former concierge at the Rusty Lake Hotel, Harvey is still willing to be helpful and friendly whenever members of the cast require it.
- Player Character in: Cube Escape: Harvey's Box, Rusty Lake Hotel, Underground Blossom
- Also appears in: Cube Escape: Seasons, Cube Escape: The Mill, Cube Escape: Birthday, Cube Escape: Theatre, Rusty Lake: Roots, Rusty Lake Paradise, Cube Escape: Paradox, The White Door, The Past Within
Jakob Eilander[]
Sent away from his island home as a child, Jakob returns to Paradise Island after the death of his mother. He soon discovers his home and family have been cursed with ten plagues, and slowly begins to unravel the circumstances of his mother's death and his own fate.
- Player Character in: Rusty Lake Paradise
Laura Vanderboom[]
Also known simply as "The Woman", Laura Vanderboom is one of the main characters in the Cube Escape series of games. Haunted by mental illness her whole life, Laura's death and subsequent investigation is the driving force of the story.
- Player Character in: Cube Escape: The Lake, Cube Escape: Seasons
- Also appears in: Cube Escape: Case 23, Cube Escape: The Mill, Cube Escape: Theatre, Cube Escape: The Cave, Rusty Lake Paradise, Cube Escape: Paradox, The White Door, Samsara Room, Underground Blossom
Mr. Crow[]
The receptionist at Rusty Lake Hotel and Mr. Owl's second-hand man, Mr. Crow is the man in charge of extracting the memories of the deceased hotel guests, in turn making him the creator of the Corrupted Souls. His motives may be mysterious, and his morals suspect, but he often acts as a helpful guide to the other characters.
- Player Character in: Cube Escape: The Mill, Cube Escape: The Cave
- Also appears in: Cube Escape: Harvey's Box, Cube Escape: Case 23, Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: Theatre, Rusty Lake: Roots, Cube Escape: The Cave, Cube Escape: Paradox, The White Door, The Past Within
Rose Vanderboom[]
Mother of Laura and daughter of Albert, Rose is a prominent member of the Vanderboom clan, aiding William's Corrupted Soul in his reincarnation and helping her father in his plans of resurrection.
• Player Character in: The Past Within
• Also appears in: Rusty Lake: Roots, Samsara Room, Underground Blossom
Vincent van Gogh[]
The genuine man himself, Vincent van Gogh lives with his friend Paul in a small house in the French city of Arles. A talented painter, but mentally unsound, Vincent struggles to balance the two sides of his life.
- Player Character in: Cube Escape: Arles
William Vanderboom[]
As an alchemist, William Vanderboom works alongside his brother to create the Elixir of Life, in an attempt to achieve immortality. However, after drinking he Elixir he dies and becomes a Corrupted Soul, and then spends his years working towards his eventual reincarnation.
- Player Character in: Rusty Lake: Roots, Samsara Room
Major Characters[]
Characters with an important role in the series.
Albert Vanderboom[]
The youngest of the Vanderboom triplets and an alchemist responsible for creating Rose Vanderboom, Albert is the source of most misfortunes in the Vanderboom Clan.
• Appears in: Rusty Lake: Roots, The Past Within, Underground Blossom
Corrupted Souls[]
Shadowy black figures who stalk the grounds of Rusty Lake, Corrupted Souls are formed from the extraction of negative memories.
- Appears in: All Games
Mr. Owl[]
Owner and proprietor of Rusty Lake Hotel, Mr. Owl has a vested interest in feeding extracted memories to the lake.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: The Mill, Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: Birthday, Cube Escape: Theatre, Cube Escape: The Cave, Rusty Lake Paradise. Cube Escape: Paradox, The White Door
The Hand[]
Possibly the most unusual recurring object in the series, the Hands are, as the name suggests, human hands, that appear periodically to hand characters items and sometimes to be hurt either by the protagonist's hand or their own actions. Notably, they are not the same every time and may be divided into several groups:
- The Corrupted Hand
- A human hand that crawled out a flower pot and disappeared back into the pot, turning the soil bloody. It shares the corrupted patterns with the hand of a drowned Soul that was caught out in Cube Escape: The Lake and, considering chronology, could be a flashback.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: Seasons
- Laura's Hand:
- Likely belongs to a deceased Laura Vanderboom, that appeared on a TV screen. The hand manifests from behind the TV along with Laura extending it off-screen.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: Case 23
- The Tanned Hand:
- It is a part a machine in Mr. Rabbit's hotel room. It wears a ring that can be obtained through making the hand immobile by piercing it with a knife.
- It crawls over the window ledge of Ms. Pheasant's hotel room from the outside. It is meant to be jammed with a window and leaves bloody trail behind.
- It crawls out of the piano to play it with the protagonist. It hands the bathroom key as a reward.
- Appears in: Rusty Lake Hotel, Cube Escape: Theatre
- The Pale Hand:
- It manifests from a machine gifted to Dale by Mr. Owl on its completion and offers a blue cube.
- It appears in the well from under the ice after being cracked.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: Birthday, Rusty Lake: Roots (Unused), Rusty Lake Paradise
- The Severed Hand:
- It is nailed to a wall inside a garden cabinet near Vanderboom's house in 1865, and is wearing a ring.
- It appears on the sorting conveyor belt at Johnsson's Birdfood Factory.
- Appears in: Rusty Lake: Roots, The White Door
- The Manly Hand:
- A hairy arm with a knife tattoo, which appears from a crack in the cave wall and cuts itself off after getting a knife.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: The Cave
- The Demanding Hand:
- It belonged to Mr. Owl hiding under a red coverlet. It exchanges items with the player. Example - a heart in exchange for a knife, likely after cutting it out with it.
- It belonged to William Vanderboom's corpse locked inside a grand-father clock. It also exchanges its heart for a knife.
- It appears from a basket of a hot-air balloon. requiring matches in order to light the engine.
- Appears in: Cube Escape: Paradox, Samsara Room
Rusty Lake Hotel[]
Guests and Staff of the Rusty Lake Hotel. All characters appear alive only in Rusty Lake Hotel, with the exception of Mr. Bat who reappears in Cube Escape: Paradox.
Guests[]
Staff[]
Vandermeer Family[]
Dale Vandermeer's family, who appear in Cube Escape: Birthday and briefly in Cube Escape: Paradox.
Vanderboom Family[]
Members of the Vanderboom Family, who only appear in Rusty Lake: Roots.
- Emma Vanderboom
- Frank Vanderboom
- Ida Vanderboom
- James Vanderboom
- Leonard Vanderboom
- Mary Vanderboom
- Samuel Vanderboom
Eilander Family[]
Members of the Eilander Family, who only appear in Rusty Lake Paradise, with the exception of David who reappears in Cube Escape: Paradox.
- Caroline Eilander
- David Eilander
- Elizabeth Eilander
- Gerard Eilander
- Margaret Eilander
- Nicholas Eilander
Minor Characters[]
Characters with only minor roles, including single game characters and animals without a speaking role.
Humans[]
- Newspaper Man: Underground Blossom
- Paul Gauguin: Cube Escape: Arles
- Sarah White: The White Door
- The Bouncer: The White Door
- The Fisherman: Cube Escape: The Cave
- The Newscaster: Cube Escape: Seasons, The White Door
- The Old Woman: Cube Escape: The Mill
- The Policeman: Cube Escape: Case 23, The White Door
- The White Door Doctors: The White Door
- The White Door Patients: The White Door
- Ticket Seller: Underground Blossom
Animals[]
- The Cat: Cube Escape: Case 23, Cube Escape: Birthday
- The Cow: Cube Escape: The Mill, Rusty Lake Paradise
- The Dog: Rusty Lake: Roots, Cube Escape: The Cave
- The Goat: Rusty Lake: Paradise