The Past Within, Rusty Lake’s sinister time-traveling co-op puzzler, is out in November

Co-op time-traveling puzzler The Past Within – the latest entry in developer Rusty Lake’s series of wonderfully sinister puzzle-adventures – finally has a release date and will arrive on PC, Mac, iOS and Android on November 2.

Developer Rusty Lake has released 14 games under the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape banner to date – some full-fledged premium offerings, others free add-ons – each offering a delightfully surreal, narratively interconnected slice of casual puzzle pointer- click with coin escape slope.

The Past Within is Rusty Lake’s first attempt at a cooperative adventure, expanding the series’ familiar formula, both in space and time, as two players work together on different timelines – one set in the past, the other in the future – to solve the mysteries surrounding the series’ recurring character Albert Vanderboom.

Players, teaming up on any combination of supported platforms, will need to communicate in order to discern how environments in their respective timelines are connected (environments, incidentally, are first rendered both in 2D and 3D in another series), then use the knowledge gained from one timeline to solve puzzles and progress through the other.

Previous games in the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape series have been hugely engaging (Rusty Lake: Roots remains a gorgeous climax), and The Past Within looks to be one of the studio’s most ambitious releases to date. PC gamers who want a taste of its co-op action before its full release on November 2 can find a demo on Steam.