One of the most defining mechanics in Rumbral is the ability to shift between two versions of the same world, the present, and a kind of red-shadowed past. These two timelines are deeply connected through a strange red liquid that can be found through the world.
Step into a pool of strange magenta substance, and you’ll find yourself in a familiar place… but not quite the same time. You’ve traveled to the past, restoring the world to its original state and uncovering alternate paths to move forward in the present.
In many moments, you’ll need to alter something in the past to see its reflection in the present, and only then will the way forward reveal itself. To give a simple practical example, we might need a box to jump onto in order to continue, but in the present we find it stuck between rubble and ruins. We travel to the past, where everything is restored, allowing us to move it and reshape the future. As a result, that same box in the present timeline is no longer trapped, and we can finally use it to move forward.
The puzzles in Rumbral are built around this simple duality.
Move an object in one timeline, and its counterpart responds in the other.
To progress, you’ll need to think in both timelines at once, observing how each version of the world can help you reshape the other.
But it’s not just mechanical.
Each shift brings you closer to a past you’ve forgotten… or maybe one you chose to forget.
— The Rumbral team