The Hand

**The Hand** is a seemingly disembodied human hand and arm found in many of the games in the Rusty Lake series. Its true nature is completely unknown, with it appearing in a variety of random and implausible situations.

## Cube Escape: The Lake

In 1969, if the player uses a Shrimp head to fish, they will hook up a hand from Rusty Lake. The hand will later be revealed to belong to a full corpse, with the rest of its body grey and water damaged. Upon slicing the corpse open it will turn its head, revealing it to be a Corrupted Soul.

## Cube Escape: Seasons

During the Summer in 1971, there is a small finger tip inside a plant pot on the dresser, where a plant was previously. From the dirt, the Hand slowly emerges, turning the soil blood red. It will rise out and then slowly sink back in, with a photo piece replacing it in the pot. Notably, it shares the appearance with the one seen in The Lake, including the black patterns of corruption.

## Cube Escape: Case 23

In the Laura's living room in 1971, the player must drop a fly in the fishbowl and direct it towards the shell. Before the fly can enter the shell, one of the Hand's fingers pushes the fly to the center of the bowl, turning it into a firefly.

Back at Dale's office in 1972, after the numbers 746 are logged into his TV, Laura appears on the screen. She reaches up with her arm, and the Hand comes through the top of the TV. When given the black egg, she turns it into a white cube.

## Rusty Lake Hotel

In Mr. Rabbit's room in 1893, there is a box on his side table. When the switch on the box front is flipped, the box's compartment will begin to open. The Hand comes out of his compartment to flip the switch back. The player must stab the Hand with a knife to stop it, and take the ring off its finger.

Then in Ms. Pheasant's room, there is a large window. Opening the window allows the Hand to pop in. By closing the window on the Hand, it will spurt out blood and flee, giving the player the red paint needed for Ms. Pheasant's photographs.

## Cube Escape: Birthday

In 1939, Mr. Owl leaves a present for Dale, for his ninth birthday. This present needs to have certain components placed into its slots in order to activate it. After successfully turning the device on and opening up the top lid, the Hand will give a blue cube to the player, allowing them to reverse time.

## Cube Escape: Theatre

Inside of the theatre in 1971 sits a lone piano, with "*dead face*" written on it. If these notes are played, a section of the keyboard will drop down, allowing the Hand to come out. If the player correctly mimics the notes the Hand plays first, it will give a key to the bathroom.

After playing the notes "*B-A-D-E-G-G*" on the piano, Harvey pops out and squawks along to the song from Cube Escape: Seasons. Once the song is finished, Harvey goes back into the piano and the Hand comes out holding an envelope. Clicking on the envelope will take the player to another page, where they could enter now-finished Rusty Lake Gin Tonic contest.

## Rusty Lake: Roots

In 1865, James proposes to Mary with a love note, but she wants a ring to signify their engagement. Using a key to open the cabinet reveals that there is a hand nailed to the backboard inside. The player can take the ring off of the Hand's finger to give to Mary.

After the end of the game, the fingers of the hand can be interacted with, causing them to twitch. If they are made to twitch in the correct order, a golden emblem will appear.

## Cube Escape: The Cave

After finishing a puzzle in 1972, a large crack appears on the wall. Using a pickaxe at the crack, the Hand slowly emerges exposing its arm. When it is given a knife, it begins to cut at its arm until it is completely severed. The arm is collected and ground into meat to feed the Dog.

## Cube Escape: Paradox

In 1972, the Hand appears from the covered cage behind the curtain, giving items to the player when handed certain objects. It gives the heart for the knife, the owl statue for the sealed letter, and when given the black egg, it disappears behind the curtain turning out to belong to Mr. Owl hiding underneath.

## The White Door

During Bob's second dream, he remembers the day in 1972 when he was fired from the Johnsson Bird Food factory. Arriving late to work and being yelled at by his boss, Bob goes to his first station to sort the different kinds of bird food into the right bins. After sorting a few items, a disembodied Hand goes down the conveyor belt. He puts it into a bin and moves onto the second station, and then accidentally presses the emergency shutdown button to which he is fired.

## Samsara Room

While William is undergoing reincarnation in 1935, he finds himself trapped in the Samsara Room. In the Fish Room, there is a nail sticking out of the side of the clock. Pulling out the nail and pieces of wood causes a Hand to emerge. Giving the Hand a knife, it disappears and comes back with a heart, which is used on the window portal to go back to the Normal Room.

Once in the Bird Room, the egg used to transport to this room can be placed in a bird's nest. Hatching all three eggs, the bird chicks will pop in and out of the eggs, appearing as different birds each time. Occasionally, the Hand's finger will come out of the egg as well. Later, when the clock is turned to the evening, solving the telephone's phrase causes a hot air balloon to fly across the room. While turning on the burners, a Hand will come out of the basket, and quickly disappear once the gas is ignited.

## Trivia

* In Cube Escape: The Mill, the Hand shows up in Laura's negative memories..
* There is an unused animation in Rusty Lake: Roots, with the Hand coming out of the soil.
* In Rusty Lake Paradise, the same Hand appears from under the ice as an Easter Egg during the Seventh Plague. Finding it unlocks an achievement.