The Case of the Golden Idol- Pixelated dioramas of crime and mystery

The Case of the Golden Idol describes itself as a new kind of detective game that allows the player to think and investigate freely. Its main gameplay loop consists of scenes presented to you in illustrations/gifs that contain a playback of a specific moment in time. In classic point n’ click fashion, you must interact with objects to either get a closer look at them or gain a new “keyword”. These keywords are what allow you to solve the investigative question and are always present on the bottom half of the screen. Above that, exists a toggle that allows you to switch between “exploring” and “thinking”. When exploring, you are being presented with the current investigative scene while when thinking, you are faced with the questions the game expects you to answer about it.

What is unique about the Case of the Golden Idol lies exactly within the word system, as you are required to quite literally fill in the gaps of the mystery.  Each case is unique and therefore has different questions to answer, varying in complexity as the story progresses. The instances are separated and after all the spaces have been filled in if you were correct, congratulations! If not, the game informs you about the existence of mistakes but does not specify which gap has been mislabeled. This makes the game enjoyably challenging, as the limited way you are allowed to approach the scenarios forces you to think in ways you might haven’t considered. Although unique, this system does have its flaws as it’s susceptible to brute forcing. In a bind, and for the player who has enough patience, you could try all possible combinations of words until you find the correct one.

Without spoiling much of the plot, the scenarios presented to you at first seem connected to each other only on a surface level which, while allowing for different mysteries, can make the game feel disconnected at times. The final level of the game intends to allow players to connect all the information they have gathered in a satisfying a-ha! moment, and it mostly accomplishes that. One of my main gripes with this system though, is the amount of information and specifically faces and names the game expects you to remember in order to reach that final deduction. I understand that identifying subjects is part of the puzzle in most levels, but having some sort of journal with information gathered throughout would help massively with the feeling of “who is this person and am I supposed to remember them”.

The presentation of the game is truly delightful and oozes character. The pixelated art style harkens back to classic point n’ click games with a fresh new twist. The character art is very exaggerated and cartoonish, making all the important figures very distinguishable from one another, which helps with the lack of previously mentioned journal. The music is mostly atmospheric, but it helps define each scene. The worldbuilding is also unique, set in a low-fantasy world similar to ours which allows the setting to reference familiar concepts without restraining itself.

Overall, my experience with the game was mostly positive besides the minor flaws mentioned. It was a joy to complete and left an impression on me. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any fans of the point n’ click genre or Investigation games genre. The Case of the Golden Idol and its colorful cast of characters successfully manage to combine the best parts of a whimsical adventure and a gritty investigative thriller.

Publisher: Playstack

Developer: Color Gray Games

Platforms: macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5

Release Date: 13 October 2022

Genres: Adventure, puzzle

PEGI: 12

Pictures: Screenshots from the game taken by Zoi Asterataki

 

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