- Publisher: Playstack , Color Gray Games
- Release Date: Oct 13, 2022
- Also On: PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Jun 12, 2023Triple Click Podcast has been going on and on about this being one of the best unsung games of the year, and it's easy to see why. The ability to get on with, enjoy and progress through this title makes one feel intelligent, and there's even a touch of smugness that's attached to that feeling. On more than a couple of occasions, The Case of the Golden Idol requires some leaps in logic to reach the conclusion, in absence of having all of the information needed to be certain, and this is so well done as one will self-reflect that they are a genius for figuring it out. Otherwise, it is a very slow and rigid title that will no doubt be an acquired taste for many - the last two cases in particular are extremely difficult, and with little flexibility for experimentation it could be easy to run into a hard stop. At the end of the day, there is nothing else in the whodunit genre that represents what it was like to be Father Dowling on an intellectual level any better.
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Aug 3, 2023In The Case of the Golden Idol, the mystery-solving is quite engaging up to a point. But overall, the narrative is frustratingly executed and the presentation is unremarkable.
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Oct 26, 2022Witty, observational writing and a hands-off approach to deduction elevate this excellent period murder-mystery to a singular work. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Nov 1, 2022The Case of the Golden Idol is a game that makes me feel like a TV detective, slapping photos on a wall and drawing red lines between them. Those strings of yarn crisscross throughout my notebook, connecting characters and murder weapons and motives. It’s easy to get sucked into small details looking for a lead, but the feeling it gives when I’ve locked in the correct answers… It’s like I’m the most brilliant person on earth — even if just for a moment. The Case of the Golden Idol, like other deep detective games, expands past its own boundaries and into the pages of my notebook, leaving me thinking about its clues long after I’ve closed the game.
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Oct 13, 2022The Case Of The Golden Idol has more of a John Watson vibe – a few steps behind their resident super sleuth, but always in the same ball park, and that's what counts here, I think. This is certainly the closest I've seen another game try and emulate Obra Dinn's grisly murder sketches, and the fact it does them so well, and with such a keen eye for detail and visual flourish, is a credit to Color Gray Games' two-strong dev team. Its gurning cast of ne'er-do-wells may not be quite as nuanced as their nautical rivals, but they'll definitely stick just as long in your little grey cells. And if you've been very close attention, you'll now be able to fill out these blanks right here: The _____ Of The _____ _____ is _____ and I _____ it to bits.
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Nov 1, 2022The Case of the Golden Idol is one of those games that I wish I could forget and play all over again for the first time. I’ve heard it compared to Return of the Obra Dinn, and I also think you’ll like Golden Idol if you’re a fan of games like Sam Barlow’s Telling Lies or Immortality. But I’m hopeful that Golden Idol developers Color Gray Games will use their clever Mad Libs-style system again in the future; even after beating the game, I feel like there’s still a lot we don’t know about the mysterious golden idol.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 21
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Mixed: 2 out of 21
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Negative: 1 out of 21
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Dec 11, 2022
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Nov 7, 2022Great story and challenging puzzles. Challenging but not so much you get stuck.
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Oct 23, 2022It's like a logic puzzle/hidden object/deductive reasoning game with an interesting story. I loved it.