The Past Within

November 2, 2022AdventureESRB T

Available on

Android iOS Nintendo Switch macOS PC

Genres

Adventure Puzzle Indie

Overview

About The Past Within

The Past Within is the new co-op experience from Rusty Lake! Play together with someone you deem trustworthy: one in The Past, the other in The Future. Observe and communicate what you see around you. Solve the puzzles and uncover Albert Vanderboom’s plan.

Story setup

The past and future cannot be explored alone! Team up with a friend and piece together the mysteries surrounding Albert Vanderboom. Communicate what you see around you to help one another solve various puzzles and explore the worlds from different perspectives! The Past Within is the first co-op only point-and-click adventure set in the mysterious world of Rusty Lake.

Reference

At a glance

Released: November 2, 2022
Platforms: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, macOS, PC
Genres: Adventure, Puzzle, Indie
Play modes: Single Player, Multiplayer, Co-op
Age rating: ESRB T
Multiplayer: By platform

Media

Screenshots

Click any screenshot to view it full size.

Playing together

Multiplayer by platform

How The Past Within supports playing with other people, broken down per platform.

Multiplayer capabilities for The Past Within by platform. Capabilities with no published information are marked "not documented".
Platform	Local	Online	LAN	Split-screen	Co-op campaign	Drop-in/out
Nintendo Switch	No	Yes, up to 2 players	No	No	No	No

Supported (a number is the player cap)
Not supported
Not documented for this platform

Content

Age ratings

How rating boards around the world have classified The Past Within. Open a board for its content descriptors.

ESRBT

Blood
Violence

GRAC12+

Violence

PEGI12

Also in our guides

Often listed alongside The Past Within

Titles that appear in the same guides on this site. Grouped by where they show up, not by recommendation.

Coverage

Featured in our articles

This game appears in 1 article on this site.

Best Puzzle LAN Party Games for PC in 2026

#11

The Past Within very nearly made the top 10, and if I am honest it might belong there over Heave Ho on a different day. Rusty Lake built it entirely around two players seeing different time periods of the same location, one in the past, one in the future, solving puzzles that only make sense once you describe what you are looking at to your partner. It is short. A few hours at most, and strictly two-player. But the asymmetrical hook is genuinely clever, and if your LAN group already loved We Were Here Forever, this is the next one to try.

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Game data and imagery provided by IGDB.com