The Case of the Golden Idol

The Case of the Golden Idol is a detective adventure game. The project was developed by Color Gray Games studio.

Plot

The game is set in the 18th century. Players take on the role of a detective who, over the course of four decades, must unravel the case of twelve mysterious murders. At first it seems that these crimes are unrelated, but over time it turns out that they have a lot in common. We will have to discover the identities of the perpetrators and the motives behind their acts.

Game mechanics

The Case of the Golden Idol is an adventure game with a point-n-click interface, which, however, strongly differs from the other games of the genre.

Each murder is divided into two phases. The first takes the form of a frozen scene from the moment of the victim's death. In it, we examine elements of the environment, look into the drawers and pockets of the characters and collect evidence and clues. These finds take the form of scrolls with words, which we use in the second phase of the investigation, where we have to match these words to blanks in sentences, creating a logical cause-and-effect sequence to explain what actually happened.

The first cases are simple and cover only one screen of the scene. Over time, however, the level of complexity of the crime gradually increases, until by the end of the adventure we have to connect clues from multiple screens together, creating a complex web of motives, evidence and deduction.

Game modes

The Case of the Golden Idol offers a single-player mode only.

Technical aspects

The game features two-dimensional graphics made in an unusual retro style.

Last updated on 20 May 2023