A superb detective game akin to Obra Dinn though on a much smaller, level-based scope. Unlike Obra Dinn, Golden Idol doesn’t have you play as an in-universe character, instead you’re given a full view of its crime scenes and tasked to identify people, identify the culprit, and uncover the events surrounding the murder in each level. All the levels tie into the overarching narrative of a mysterious golden idol and its story unfolds as you continue to solve each level. The investigation element is quite strong and logical, I figured the whole game out without using a single hint and very small amounts of guessing. There aren’t really any leaps of logic or genuine obtuseness, the game is skilled at giving you all the info that you need. The atmosphere is quite good is well; the art is kind of grotesque but in a good way that befits the slimy and cutthroat characters you have to deal with and the music befits the vibes of the late 1700’s setting that the game is set in. The Case of the Golden Idol is a definitely worthy to be among the detective game greats.
Do you like the Chzo Mythos? Do you like Return of the Obra Dinn? Can I interest you in the Case of the Golden Idol?
Love games with a mystical power dropping into an unready society and falling into the worst person's hands. Captures that same "holy shit that's gnarly" gruesomeness from Obra Dinn with even more initially inexplicable situations to try and piece together the meaning of. Short but not too short, happy with where it went and where it ended. And what art direction! Never seen anything like it.
Love games with a mystical power dropping into an unready society and falling into the worst person's hands. Captures that same "holy shit that's gnarly" gruesomeness from Obra Dinn with even more initially inexplicable situations to try and piece together the meaning of. Short but not too short, happy with where it went and where it ended. And what art direction! Never seen anything like it.
lovely attention to detail!
If you enjoy deductive reasoning games then this is your jam. Anyone who's played Obra Dinn would love this game, and it comes as no surprise that Lucas Pope himself gave this one a hearty recommendation on his twitter. It takes the death vignettes of Obra Dinn and word magnet mad libs, and slaps them together to create a short, engaging, and unique experience.
The gameplay is really a shine here. Each chapter gets more and more complex, adding new characters to the overarching plotline, involving more word 'types,' and just generally increasing the number of clues and words necessary to deduce the happenings of the events taking place.
Personally, I found the narrative to be a bit silly but for the purposes of the game, well used. The world building didn't give me the feel of being very fleshed out, but I'm not sure it needed to be. Probably, too much world building information would have interceded the large number of clues particularly dedicated to solving each chapter, in which there are already many red herrings. Id say the experience of the story feels very theatrical, and the pace of the story is quite well balanced in terms of the intensity. The music does a great job at enhancing the atmosphere as well.
My main criticism would be that I'm a very stubborn person so I didn't want to use the hint system - and in turn ended up needing to rely heavily on the "Two or less correct" message to clean up some of my mad libs panels. A few times its easy to get some small details just barely wrong and it becomes a little trial and error-ry (if you refuse to use hints). I will say I do appreciate the little help screen that comes up when you press the hint button that reminds you of some deductive reasoning skills before you commit to actually reading any of the hints. At the very least, for any of the mad libs solving, 80-90% is going to be good perception and reading comprehension. Furthermore, even Obra Dinn suffers for a bit of that trial and errory-ness too, so I don't judge it too harshly. Until someone proves otherwise, as creators try to make more games like this, I think it is just going to be a pitfall of games of this type.
The gameplay is really a shine here. Each chapter gets more and more complex, adding new characters to the overarching plotline, involving more word 'types,' and just generally increasing the number of clues and words necessary to deduce the happenings of the events taking place.
Personally, I found the narrative to be a bit silly but for the purposes of the game, well used. The world building didn't give me the feel of being very fleshed out, but I'm not sure it needed to be. Probably, too much world building information would have interceded the large number of clues particularly dedicated to solving each chapter, in which there are already many red herrings. Id say the experience of the story feels very theatrical, and the pace of the story is quite well balanced in terms of the intensity. The music does a great job at enhancing the atmosphere as well.
My main criticism would be that I'm a very stubborn person so I didn't want to use the hint system - and in turn ended up needing to rely heavily on the "Two or less correct" message to clean up some of my mad libs panels. A few times its easy to get some small details just barely wrong and it becomes a little trial and error-ry (if you refuse to use hints). I will say I do appreciate the little help screen that comes up when you press the hint button that reminds you of some deductive reasoning skills before you commit to actually reading any of the hints. At the very least, for any of the mad libs solving, 80-90% is going to be good perception and reading comprehension. Furthermore, even Obra Dinn suffers for a bit of that trial and errory-ness too, so I don't judge it too harshly. Until someone proves otherwise, as creators try to make more games like this, I think it is just going to be a pitfall of games of this type.
Took a while for the story to click but when it does it's very engaging. Wonderful art and the puzzles are engaging without feeling impossible to solve with the evidence presented. There is a little bit of trial-and-error but that's to be expected in any game like this.
I didn't use the hint system, but it could be beneficial for some chapters, particularly the final chapter that is quite difficult and really relies on you having understood the full story across all chapters to be able to solve it.
I didn't use the hint system, but it could be beneficial for some chapters, particularly the final chapter that is quite difficult and really relies on you having understood the full story across all chapters to be able to solve it.
I strongly recommend The Case of the Golden Idol. It's a challenging yet highly satisfying detective game with a simple but effective word selection mechanic reminiscent of Mad Libs. There may have been a few instances of the puzzles being a touch too hard for my liking, be that due to information tying things together being too nuanced and unclear or a couple of times when I solved something by using guesswork rather than deduction, but the vast majority of the cases I was able to reason out - even when I needed to take notes and create my own logic puzzle to solve them. Revealing the intriguing narrative about a secret society and mysterious, powerful relic with its twists was highly entertaining, as well.
Slightly too easy to brute force, but you could criticise Obra Dinn for this too. Had me audibly saying 'a-ha' to myself like I was also an 18th Century scientist
not a game I should have looked up on HowLongToBeat revealing how dumb I am
Superb detective mystery. I loved getting to know this little world. The mad libs guessing did wear me out by the end, but it's only 5-6 hours long. If you enjoyed Obra Dinn, this is an easy recommendation.
This is one of those games that looks ugly to the point of being downright off-putting, but if you give it just ten minutes of your time, you'll be hooked before you know it. I've loved games with detective elements ever since I was a kid, and Golden Idol does a superlative job of making you feel like a super sleuth. You're presented with a scene, usually moments after a murder has been committed, and it's the player's task to figure out what happened by gathering all the evidence, pouring over it and then filling in the blanks. It quickly becomes an addiction as you go from one case to the next; finding out who the culprit was using your own deductive reasoning. And all these different vignettes are tied together by a surprisingly intriguing narrative that, while hardly shoved in your face, provides enough solid story beats that you have a firm grip on everything that has ensued by the end credits.
I hope this game goes on to be the sleeper hit of 2022. It deserves it. I think it's (purposefully) grotesque art direction could work against it, but don't let it! There is an incredibly compelling detective romp hidden behind those garish colours and bulbous features.
I hope this game goes on to be the sleeper hit of 2022. It deserves it. I think it's (purposefully) grotesque art direction could work against it, but don't let it! There is an incredibly compelling detective romp hidden behind those garish colours and bulbous features.
Pretty good!
With how much I love Obra Dinn, I must admit that one of the first games directly inspired by it being just "pretty good" is a little bit of a letdown, but the fact that we've got a second game out there like that (outer wilds doesn't count) sets a really really good precedent and I hope we get more like these two.
Puzzle games are supposed to make you feel smart, and with the breaking-up of this one into chunks, it's missing a lot of the intimidation Obra Dinn has. Walking onto the boat with 60 blanks and actually being able to figure them out feels super rewarding and makes you feel like the smartest person in the world. Here, it's really only the last chapter or two where it starts feeling like more of a total Thing rather than a bunch of bits stitched together, so it's missing a lot of the intimidation that makes you feel smart for figuring it out.
It's 11 normal Sudokus instead of one super insane one. Which, I mean, in the end? Sudoku is sudoku.
With how much I love Obra Dinn, I must admit that one of the first games directly inspired by it being just "pretty good" is a little bit of a letdown, but the fact that we've got a second game out there like that (outer wilds doesn't count) sets a really really good precedent and I hope we get more like these two.
Puzzle games are supposed to make you feel smart, and with the breaking-up of this one into chunks, it's missing a lot of the intimidation Obra Dinn has. Walking onto the boat with 60 blanks and actually being able to figure them out feels super rewarding and makes you feel like the smartest person in the world. Here, it's really only the last chapter or two where it starts feeling like more of a total Thing rather than a bunch of bits stitched together, so it's missing a lot of the intimidation that makes you feel smart for figuring it out.
It's 11 normal Sudokus instead of one super insane one. Which, I mean, in the end? Sudoku is sudoku.
Loved this. Mixes Obra Dinn gameplay with a point-and-click style murder mystery that takes some WACKY turns. Highly recommend.
this is one effed up version of mad libs
Best way to violate the third virtue this year
Stellar point and click detective game where you’re left to try and solve various murders, freely gathering evidence through 12 cases and deducing how they connect together to form a compelling overarching mystery
Each case doesn’t take a ton of time on their own, but they were clever in how they gradually ramp up in complexity without feeling too unfair or obtuse to figure out, and it was really satisfying when I reached the end and everything clicked together
Each case doesn’t take a ton of time on their own, but they were clever in how they gradually ramp up in complexity without feeling too unfair or obtuse to figure out, and it was really satisfying when I reached the end and everything clicked together
A man pushes another man off of a cliff on a remote island. Stashed in the unnamed murderer's bag just a few feet away is a written contract between the two men and a mysterious golden idol. With the information shown to you from this animated snapshot at the moment of the crime, players are able to deduce the identities and motivations of the two men and what led to the untimely death, setting off a chain reaction through the following twelve chapters of The Case of the Golden Idol. The game is heavily focused on its narrative and finding the connective tissue as to whodunit and the intricate web around the facts is critical to a cracked case.
The Case of the Golden Idol exists in a similar space to Return of the Obra Dinn, and a variety of other detective games, as well as an inkling of point-and-click adventure games. Per each scenario, you are given the ability to explore the scene, clicking around the various screens to rifle through pockets, compartments, garbage bins, statues, and books to pull any keywords and clues you can scrounge up. The visuals themselves are a greasy, dark palette of 18th century pixel art, depicting its inhabitants as twisted, exaggerated vessels. No one is or even looks truly innocent and peering into glimpses of their belongings allows you to paint a bigger picture. Flipping a dial at the bottom of the screen takes you to the Thinking mode, where the game prompts several questions as to the nature of the case, from identifying all the suspects, matching names to placements at a dinner table, or piecing together an order of events using various scraps of testimony. The keywords you find in the explore mode can be slotted into these prompts, but it's not as easy as it may seem. Several keywords in each scene go completely unused, and many characters in this time period carry something to defend themselves with. You'll need to pay attention to letters, locations, and dialogue to deduce anything you can to establish the correct reconstruction of the chapter. Most of these moments are wonderful, and a few of the cases here are standouts using their logic and step-by-step nature to guide the player to the correct answer. However, others involve a logical leap too great sometimes, usually due to servicing the greater narrative and it bogs the game's logic down by sacrificing a uniquely solvable problem to a matter of guesswork and overanalysis. The narrative does pay off, though, and many of the cases in the second half of the game become (much more complex, yes but also) fairer since you can recognize the key players who slip between each set of murders.
The game's presentation and structure is overall pretty minimal, you start the game, click on a chapter and are immediately dropped into that location. A few animated cutscenes provide a welcome transition between sequences, but aren't necessarily common and really only become interesting once you know the whole truth. I do admire the game's commitment to its story. This game could very easily be 12 unconnected murder cases with increasing difficulty, but it is BECAUSE they are all narratively intertwined that the ending feels more satisfying, but also wildly more difficult to pinpoint.
The Case of the Golden Idol doesn't nail every one of its mysteries, but it tells a fascinating, supernatural, and suprisingly dark tale woven with blood, murder, political intrigue, and much else beneath the surface. If you are a fan of Obra Dinn or other detective games, this should really be a no-brainer.
The Case of the Golden Idol exists in a similar space to Return of the Obra Dinn, and a variety of other detective games, as well as an inkling of point-and-click adventure games. Per each scenario, you are given the ability to explore the scene, clicking around the various screens to rifle through pockets, compartments, garbage bins, statues, and books to pull any keywords and clues you can scrounge up. The visuals themselves are a greasy, dark palette of 18th century pixel art, depicting its inhabitants as twisted, exaggerated vessels. No one is or even looks truly innocent and peering into glimpses of their belongings allows you to paint a bigger picture. Flipping a dial at the bottom of the screen takes you to the Thinking mode, where the game prompts several questions as to the nature of the case, from identifying all the suspects, matching names to placements at a dinner table, or piecing together an order of events using various scraps of testimony. The keywords you find in the explore mode can be slotted into these prompts, but it's not as easy as it may seem. Several keywords in each scene go completely unused, and many characters in this time period carry something to defend themselves with. You'll need to pay attention to letters, locations, and dialogue to deduce anything you can to establish the correct reconstruction of the chapter. Most of these moments are wonderful, and a few of the cases here are standouts using their logic and step-by-step nature to guide the player to the correct answer. However, others involve a logical leap too great sometimes, usually due to servicing the greater narrative and it bogs the game's logic down by sacrificing a uniquely solvable problem to a matter of guesswork and overanalysis. The narrative does pay off, though, and many of the cases in the second half of the game become (much more complex, yes but also) fairer since you can recognize the key players who slip between each set of murders.
The game's presentation and structure is overall pretty minimal, you start the game, click on a chapter and are immediately dropped into that location. A few animated cutscenes provide a welcome transition between sequences, but aren't necessarily common and really only become interesting once you know the whole truth. I do admire the game's commitment to its story. This game could very easily be 12 unconnected murder cases with increasing difficulty, but it is BECAUSE they are all narratively intertwined that the ending feels more satisfying, but also wildly more difficult to pinpoint.
The Case of the Golden Idol doesn't nail every one of its mysteries, but it tells a fascinating, supernatural, and suprisingly dark tale woven with blood, murder, political intrigue, and much else beneath the surface. If you are a fan of Obra Dinn or other detective games, this should really be a no-brainer.
Hay en los buenos detective games un aire que me recuerda a esos fantásticos sokoban que llegan de tanto en cuanto, casi sin hacer ruído, pero con una propuesta pulida, sólida, inteligente y divertida.
De estos cuatro últimos puntos, quizá lo de inteligente sea lo más excepcional en el medio. No por incapacidad, seguramente, sino por el tan común puro beneficio del efectismo.
The Case of the Golden Idol probablemente no sea efectista en su definición más amplia, pero es inteligente por cómo funciona de forma simple, por cómo se desarrolla metódicamente yendo de lo menos complejo a lo realmente complejo y por, a su manera, ser coherente con todo el periplo del ídolo dorado y la sucesión de sus desdichas.
De estos cuatro últimos puntos, quizá lo de inteligente sea lo más excepcional en el medio. No por incapacidad, seguramente, sino por el tan común puro beneficio del efectismo.
The Case of the Golden Idol probablemente no sea efectista en su definición más amplia, pero es inteligente por cómo funciona de forma simple, por cómo se desarrolla metódicamente yendo de lo menos complejo a lo realmente complejo y por, a su manera, ser coherente con todo el periplo del ídolo dorado y la sucesión de sus desdichas.
A delightful short sweet mystery puzzle game, like a more bitesized version of Obra Dinn. You're presented with a series of scenes just after a death and have to look through people's pockets, read anything lying around and generally poke about to figure out what's happened. There's something very satisfying about this kind of mystery where you're presented with dramatic, puzzling events and then have to gradually work your way back to a complete understanding.
Fun gameplay and good music. Too short for the price and some of the solutions don't provide enough evidence.
This is a really delightful little game; a few hours and the price of a couple movie tickets well spent, I think. I was especially impressed by its final big twist--it crept up on me for a genuinely amazing revelation.
I'm really kind of fascinated by "passive detective" games like this and Obra Dinn, where the player-detective cannot change the outcome of the story by solving the mystery. It lends itself to a fundamentally different sort of mystery to the more traditional sort, but I think I might actually like it a little more? There's this really fascinating puzzle-box quality to the style that I've never gotten out of anything else.
I'm really kind of fascinated by "passive detective" games like this and Obra Dinn, where the player-detective cannot change the outcome of the story by solving the mystery. It lends itself to a fundamentally different sort of mystery to the more traditional sort, but I think I might actually like it a little more? There's this really fascinating puzzle-box quality to the style that I've never gotten out of anything else.
If you loved Obra Dinn, you are going to love Golden Idol. If it was just a tiny bit longer and some of the context clues for a few chapters made a little more sense to me personally, it’d be a 5.
The more I learned the less I liked it. Still proves the adaptability of Obra Dinn, but like that game I wish the narrative had a bit more going on. Unlike that game this has no decent tracks. I like some good mystery solving bops. Still, it's not a bad time on a Sunday afternoon.
Just brilliant.
Excellent. My 4th favorite game of this year.
Art style turned me off, but I was hooked within the first puzzle and didn't want to stop.
Played all the way through the epilogue, ignoring my other games (God of War Ragnarok, Pokemon Scarlet) to see the end of the story.
Very well done, team. Can't wait for your next game, should you make one.
Kudos.
Art style turned me off, but I was hooked within the first puzzle and didn't want to stop.
Played all the way through the epilogue, ignoring my other games (God of War Ragnarok, Pokemon Scarlet) to see the end of the story.
Very well done, team. Can't wait for your next game, should you make one.
Kudos.
A lovely little detective game that's tightly designed and tells a very neat story of corruption and madness. Gameplay is satisfying and builds on the foundations of Obra Dinn very well to do its own thing
This review contains spoilers
AMAZING
A bit too much of a clear mix and match puzzle to actually tell a compelling narrative like Obra Dinn manages, but the deduction opportunities are still rock solid without much hand holding in sight. The notes system is also really great, simulating how you might make handwritten notes without requiring mandatory redundant slog if you already know the important answers.
Super enjoyable deduction game play and a story that's told with wit and a dash of horror.
This game does a brilliant job of making you feel like a detective. It consists of about 11 murders you need to solve, which are all part of an overall narrative. This structure works better for me than the obvious comparison of Obra Dinn, since the mysteries are more compact. You aren't watching the same scene 20 times with hopes of gathering a little bit more info like the last so many people you have figure out in Obra Dinn. This way you are consistently trying to put together what happened, which is way more fun to me. (Not to say Obra Dinn is worse, that game is also 5/5 for sure)
I also love the mechanics of give you a bunch of keywords and making you piece together the mystery through those words, and the various template they give you. For example earlier cases make you determine the names of each of the characters, and tells you when you get all of them right, but you still need to solve the murder after you get all the names. It gives you a helpful stepping stone to solve the overall mystery, without really giving anything away.
I also want to say I love how this game forces you to learn it's universe. There are supernatural elements you need to learn the rules of, and various political and cult groups you need learn about as well. When everything is put together, it is not only very satisfying from a puzzle-solving perspective, but the narrative you unravel is super interesting as well.
This game is an easy recommend for basically anyone. When I first was recommended it, I wasn't very convinced since the art-style looked repulsive. But trust me, you will learn to love the art-style if you give this game a chance. Oh, one last thing: the music of this game goes so fucking hard. It's so weird and creepy, but fits the game so perfectly. Definitely one of my favorite games of the year.
I also love the mechanics of give you a bunch of keywords and making you piece together the mystery through those words, and the various template they give you. For example earlier cases make you determine the names of each of the characters, and tells you when you get all of them right, but you still need to solve the murder after you get all the names. It gives you a helpful stepping stone to solve the overall mystery, without really giving anything away.
I also want to say I love how this game forces you to learn it's universe. There are supernatural elements you need to learn the rules of, and various political and cult groups you need learn about as well. When everything is put together, it is not only very satisfying from a puzzle-solving perspective, but the narrative you unravel is super interesting as well.
This game is an easy recommend for basically anyone. When I first was recommended it, I wasn't very convinced since the art-style looked repulsive. But trust me, you will learn to love the art-style if you give this game a chance. Oh, one last thing: the music of this game goes so fucking hard. It's so weird and creepy, but fits the game so perfectly. Definitely one of my favorite games of the year.
Fantastic, Return of the Obra Dinn like game! Highly recommended.