Step into the fancy buckled shoes of an 18th Century detective to try and unravel a 40-year-long mystery. 12 cases, one potentially magical object, rumours of a cult, and one aristocratic family at the centre of it all? Sounds like a recipe for a wonderfully weird point-and-click adventure. The Case of the Golden Idol is a dastardly tale of greed, conspiracies, and thievery.
This product was received for free
Platforms: PC Steam
Players: 1
Genres: Point & Click, Murder Mystery, Detective
Developer: Color Grey Games
Price: £16.99
Steam Deck Playable (worked perfectly well)
The Case of the Golden Idol Review
There’s been a murder, a fairly simple case to start you off with. Someone has been pushed off of a cliff. Seeing as there was only one other person around at the time. This one is a fairly open-and-shut case. Search the scene to uncover the clues. Then once you have them all. You just need to put them in the right place – quite literally.
The Case of the Golden Idol has a fairly simple premise at heart. Each scene shows you a snapshot in time – the ‘Exploring’ tab, of the murder either having just occurred or, in the midst of it all. Now you need to search for clues. These clues will then become available for you to drag and drop into place on your ‘Thinking’ tab where you will solve the case and motives around what has happened. As you search the scenes, words will become available on the Thinking tab for you to slot into place. Suspects’ names, locations, and objects will all appear for selection. Some may be red herrings whilst others are your answer. Reading the scene, and picking up on the subtle and less subtle clues are the key to solving these crimes.
Who dunnit
As you progress through each case you will start to see that the same characters keep popping up. Additionally, a potentially magical item, the titular Golden Idol. The story follows this item and the people who wish to possess it and understand it. There will be betrayals aplenty and it’s your job to follow this mad bunch of people and solve the 40-year-long mystery – as well as all the murders along the way.
As mentioned things do start off fairly straightforward. The clues are mostly in plain sight and you can quite quickly come to a conclusion about who committed the murders. That being said, as you get to delve further into the story things become foggier. The clues are less obvious, the motives a little more obscured. By the end of it, you will be doing a lot of head-scratching as you try to figure out an elaborate set of events painted out to you in the vaguest way possible.
Things get tough.
A notepad is probably going to be needed and maybe even a calculator. Yes, there is even some maths to do. However, that’s not to say it’s a bad thing. Each and every case is wonderfully wacky and fun to unravel and just that little bit more satisfying to solve.
If Monty Python did Point-and-Click
With each new case, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Monty Python sketches. More specifically, the animated parts of films like Life of Brian, etc… The over-the-top facial expressions and the subtle and simple animations that help bring the scenes to life kept jogging memories of the Monty gang.
The Case of the Golden Idol is a uniquely beautiful game to look at. From the grand country houses to the creepy cult den. Everything looks so good. I reveled in each room I searched taking in all the little details that help bring it all to life. Furthermore, the soundtrack plinks and clinks along with you in a jaunty and at times slightly unsettling way.
The over-the-top characters with eccentric personalities are fun to get to know. That being said, I did get a little confused at times as to who is who. There are quite a few people to keep track of and they do share some similar looks or outfits. Again, keep that notepad handy.
Conclusion
The Case of the Golden Idol is a bit of a mad ride from start to finish. There is a lot going on and following the story can get a little hazy. Furthermore, the large cast of characters doesn’t help with some of the more confusing and convoluted solutions toward the end. However, it is still one of the most memorable and fun experiences I’ve had playing video games this year. It’s bizarre, bold, and brilliant.
-Will
