The Case of the Golden Idol

The Case of the Golden Idol is a 2022 adventure and puzzle video game developed by Color Gray Games and published by Playstack for macOS and Windows. The game depicts a narrative spanning 40 years in the 18th century, in which players collect clues to piece together concepts, characters, and evidence to provide context to the story.

The Case of the Golden Idol was developed by Latvian independent developers Ernests and Andrejs Kļaviņš, who aimed to create a detective game influenced by the visual presentation of 1990s adventure games. The Case of the Golden Idol was similarly inspired by the design of the 2018 game Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope, with the game receiving similar comparisons from reviewers.

The Case of the Golden Idol received praise for its use of deduction to present its narrative and distinctive visual presentation, and received awards as one of the best games of 2022. Two expansions to the game, The Spider of Lanka and The Lemurian Vampire, were released as downloadable content in 2023.

Gameplay


The Case of the Golden Idol is a detective based puzzle game in which the player connects together the details of the narrative from eleven cases, placing the player at or shortly after where a central character in the narrative has met their death. Each level represents a frozen point in time, represented by the looped animation of its characters. Players resolve chapters through two modes of gameplay, with the overarching objective to correctly identify the details of the events in the chapter.

In 'Exploring' mode, the game resembles a point-and-click adventure game where an environment is presented frozen at a point in time. Players are able to investigate the scene by clicking on characters, objects, or documents to collect key words of interest, such as names, places, verbs, and items, that are collected in the bottom of the screen. While the events on screen are frozen in time, players are freely able to navigate between rooms, open the contents of containers, and see what items and documents a character has on their person, as well as any words that they have said.

In 'Thinking' mode, words of interest are used to piece together a narrative of what has occurred, through filling in blank slots against an incomplete description of events and characters. Parts of the 'Thinking' mode will differ depending on the chapter, in some cases requiring players to identify full names of characters, and in others specifying situational characteristics such as the titles of Brotherhood members, or the occupants of certain rooms. To assist the player, slots are completed in segments, with the player being notified when the words in that segment are either entirely correct, in which case the segment is locked in, or when the segment has more or less than two incorrect words allocated.

Plot
The Case of the Golden Idol tells the story of the titular Golden Idol, a relic with supernatural powers, as it travels over time through the hands of the Cloudsley family to the criminal underworld, esoteric secret societies, and the political and aristocratic class. The game is organized into four chapters, spanning a period of fifty years.

In 1742, Albert Cloudsley acquires the Golden Idol on an expedition after pushing his partner, Dr. Oberon Geller, off a cliff. In 1786, his descendant, Sebastian Cloudsley, dies accidentally. His will passes the Idol to a stranger to the family, Willard Wright. It is later revealed that Sebastian and Wright are members of The Brotherhood, a secret society.

The Cloudsley family conspires to return the Idol to their possession, and Willard Wright is murdered, returning the Idol to the elderly Edmund Cloudsley. The Brotherhood unsuccessfully attempts to poison Edmund, and he goes into hiding to experiment with the Idol's powers. He discovers that the Idol can transfer properties such as matter, temperature, and even age, between two objects. Ultimately, a band of thieves – led by Brotherhood cultist Walter Keene – storm Edmund's cabin, but they are subdued by a trap.

Some time later, Walter Keene returns to the Brotherhood to endorse a new inductee, Lazarus Herst, into the cult. Lazarus hides the Idol inside a staff to perform the "miracle" of walking on air, and is crowned as their leader. Meanwhile, the other Brotherhood members successfully take out their opponents in parliament by murdering one and framing the other at a countryside salon.

Years later, the Brotherhood, restyled as the "Order Party", have taken power in the country. Citizens are ranked by virtuous behavior. Using the Idol, Lazarus takes youth away from those of low rank, and bestows it upon to those of high rank. They plan to overthrow the King, who does not recognize their authority. Before they can do so, Lazarus Herst is lured back to the Cloudsley manor by his old love, but is blasted by a cannon. Infighting erupts between the remaining Brotherhood members, and the Idol is ultimately broken.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that, after capturing Walter Keene in the cabin, Edmund demonstrated the Idol's powers and convinced Keene to his side. Edmund faked his own death, sapped the youth from a beggar outside, and made himself young again, taking the name Lazarus Herst. He planned to use the idol to gain power and build an ideal society, uniting the threads of the game's story.

The Spider of Lanka
In 1741, on the island of Lanka, a young Lemurian student Zubiri Kerra decided to play in a Pajack tournament. Zubiri managed to win his first match against a regular, who then proceeded to accuse Zubiri of cheating and tried to cut off his ear. Dr. Oberon Geller, who happened to be participating in the tournament, managed to save Zubiri from losing his ear. It is later revealed that Oberon orchestrated this situation where he saved Zubiri to learn the secret of the rebirth ritual, a sacred ritual done when the next heir is chosen.

The children of the current Raja, Prince Tissa and Princess Anula, had to complete a test to be considered the next heir. When Tissa failed the test, he then sought to sabotage the scared ritual. With the help of the Seven Seas Company, Albert Cloudsley and Oberon Geller provided the materials for Prince Tissa to sabotage the scared ritual, which resulted in the death of Princess Anula. As Zubiri and his father, Priest Yupik Kerra, were in charge of the mechanism that killed Princess Anula, they were suspected of killing Anula and the Raja demanded Zubiri's life in return. Yupik then revealed to the Raja the location of the golden idol to save his son's life. The Raja spared Zubiri's life, but demanded that Zubiri accompanied him on the journey as insurance.

A few days later, Yupik agreed to meet with Dr. Oberon to reveal the location of the golden idol to him as repayment for saving Zubiri's life. However, Yupik tipped off the palace guards of the location of Oberon, whom they suspected to be involved in Princess Anula death. Through the use of spies, Oberon discovered that Yupik had betrayed his location, and forced Yupik to exchange clothing and wear a mask to distract the authorities while he made his escape. On a ship leaving the Lanka island, Oberon approached Albert with a proposition to search for the golden idol.

The Lemurian Vampire
About 2 months after being told of the golden idol's location, the Raja set off on an expedition with Prince Tissa and Zubiri Kerra in order to extend his own life. The ship they were on got caught in a storm, causing it to crash into some rocks near the island where the golden idol is. Only Prince Tissa, Zubiri Kerra and the blademaster survived the shipwreck. When they washed ashore, they were founded by a group of Lemurian natives who were living on that island. The survivors were taken in by the island natives and became a part of their village. The village is led by a council of four people who make major decisions for the village. Two weeks later, the village sentinel went to the tower to perform an incantation to prevent the tower dweller from endangering the village for a period. As the sentinel said the incantation, a figure inside the tower activated the golden idol on him and the sentinel died of old age.

After the death of the old sentinel, a new sentinel was to be chosen. Prince Tissa, out of greed ,volunteered to become the next sentinel and vowed to kill the tower dweller once and for all. Zubiri, too, wished to destroy the tower dweller to save the village, and his fluency in old Lemurian allows him to understand what the incantations mean and which ones to use. The village council accepts Tissa's decision to destroy the dweller, except for Lavu Mata. Over the next few days, Tissa had demanded gifts, riches and even a certain village girl to be brought to him. The tower dweller then sent a message to the village that it will kill Tissa if he continues to try and destroy it, leaving only his bones. The next day, the village found a skeleton in Tissa bed, and believes that the tower dweller killed Tissa. Out of fear of incurring the tower dweller wrath, the counsel decided to lock up Zubiri.

Some days later, Dr. Oberon Geller and Albert Cloudsley landed on the island and were saved by the natives. Oberon convinced the natives and Albert that he can read minds through the use of a card trick, and promised the village that he would destroy the tower dweller through the use of magic. Meanwhile, Zubiri figured out the incantation to destroy the tower dweller and had informed Lavu about it. Oberon and Albert destroyed the tower dweller using gunpowder, revealing that the tower dweller was an ancient automaton that performed actions based on the voice commands it was given. However, the golden idol was collected by Lavu beforehand, while the blademaster freed Zubiri from prison. Lavu confronted Oberon and Albert and tried to use the golden idol to kill them, but she was subdued by the other villagers. Oberron then took Lavu hostage and demanded the golden idol in exchange, which Zubiri reluctantly gave. Oberon and Albert then escaped the island on their ship.

In the epilogue, the village counsel asked Zubiri to replace Lavu in the counsel. Albert and Oberon set up camp on a cliff overlooking the golden idol island. Albert, feeling that Oberon is becoming too powerful, prepares to push Oberon off the cliff, leading to the events at the start of the game.

Around 300 years ago, Lavu Mata found the golden idol inside the tower where she discovered it had the ability to transfer lifespans. She then set up the myth of the tower dweller so the villagers would give their lifespans for Lavu to steal. She also taught the children that a person can live longer depending on the star they were born under, preventing anyone from questioning her not aging. She killed Tissa as he was threatening to reveal the tower automaton, and tried to kill Oberon and Albert for foiling her plans.

Development
The game was developed by Latvian independent developers Ernests and Andrejs Kļaviņš, who had a decade of prior experience in the game industry. The brothers founded the studio Color Gray Games in 2021, with an objective to build prototypes for their games to see if their titles could be commercially successful. The Case of the Golden Idol was developed as the first commercial venture of the studio, and scouted for publication by publisher Playstack in late 2021.

The developers were inspired to work on the game by the genre of deduction games pioneered by The Return of the Obra Dinn and Her Story, observing a lack of similar games in the market. In response, they aimed to create an analytical detective game based on a realistically designed world. The developers pursued a visual design inspired by the pixel art of classic point-and-click adventure games of the 1990s, with Andrejs Kļaviņš stating "we want(ed) to elicit a bit of nostalgia in those who grew up playing adventure games, but put a new spin on it." Citing the desire to take a new approach, the developers pursued the 18th century as a setting due to the overuse of the 19th century, and were inspired by the art of Gustave Doré and William Hogarth as aesthetic references when illustrating the art of the game. The developers created the game using the Godot engine and produced its art using Aseprite.

The game's soundtrack was created by Ukrainian composer Kyle Misko. Misko aimed to use orchestral elements to create a soundtrack evocative of the eighteenth century atmosphere whilst integrating ambient and new age elements. For the downloadable content expansions, Misko used world instruments consummate with their exotic settings, including Asian percussion and instruments for The Spider of Lanka and "tribal elements" for The Lemurian Vampire.

A demo of the game was released on Steam on 25 August 2022, in line with the Steam Next Fest event in October 2022, an event that showcases upcoming games on the platform. The full version of the game was released on 13 October 2022 for Windows and macOS, and released for the Nintendo Switch on 25 May 2023. It was also released by Netflix Games for Android and iOS on 11 June 2024.

A sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol, was announced at The Game Awards 2023 with a planned release in 2024 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and mobile devices through Netflix. The game takes place in the 1970s in continuity with the first game.

Downloadable content
Additional cases for The Case of the Golden Idol were released as downloadable content (DLC) under the name Golden Idol Mysteries. The first release, The Spider of Lanka, was released in May 2023, adding three new cases to the game. Set before the events of the main game, The Spider of Lanka involves the travels of Albert Cloudsley and Oberon Geller to the Kingdom of Lanka. The second DLC, The Lemurian Vampire, was released in August 2023. Providing a further three cases set on Monkey Paw Island, The Lemurian Vampire follows the events of The Spider of Lanka and connects the events of the DLC to the main game, providing the origin story of the Golden Idol and the involvement of the Cloudsley family.

Reception
The PC version of The Case of the Golden Idol received "generally positive" reviews, while the Switch version received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game appeared on several year-end lists as one of the best games of 2022. IGN nominated the game as one of the best puzzle games of 2022 on the basis of its "refreshing take" on the murder mystery genre and gameplay. PC Gamer awarded the game as having the best story of the year, praising the "deep and fascinating" narrative surrounding the idol, its history and powers, and the intertwined lives of the game's characters. Polygon, rating the game as one of the best of 2022, stated the game "expertly supports you through the trial and error of detective work" and contained an "excellent payoff" and "epilogue". Simon Parkin of The New Yorker also cited the game as one of the best of the year, describing it as a "riveting detective game" and a "sophisticated, Sherlockian story about wealth and greed, delivered in a way that rewards close attention."

Critics praised the innovative use of deduction to solve the puzzles in the game, with several reviewers highlighting the experience of discovering and understanding the game's clues. Writing for The Guardian, Simon Parkin praised the game's "genuinely new and inventive forms of play" and innovative puzzles. Nicole Carpenter for Polygon highlighted the game's ability to "take the time to consider each scene in depth" and "expand past its own boundaries...leaving me thinking about its clues long after I've closed the game". Edge commended the innovative use of ancillary questions across cases and the use of misdirection and red herrings.

However, some critics noted the complex and trial-and-error guesswork of the game had occasionally inconsistent execution. Chris Livingston of PC Gamer observed some cases required "occasionally brute-forcing the final few names or detail of a case" and noted some cases "didn't entirely come together". Katharine Castle of Rock Paper Shotgun similarly observed instances where the game's leaps of logic "went one step too far" and reached a resolution through guesswork instead of deduction. Similarly, Dean Waxman of Adventure Gamers critiqued the game's "extremely obscure" clues and poor distinction between essential and secondary clues.

Critics also praised the game's narrative and writing. Alexis Ong of Eurogamer praised the humour and "witty, observational writing" in the game, remarking that it also contained a "Hogarthian flavor of political and social commentary" and "cheeky digs at the upper class disconnect with the common man." Chris Livingston of PC Gamer praised the game's "elaborate and intricate" cases, and stated "solving these murders [is] not just a fantastic series of crime-scene investigations but a highly imaginative bit of storytelling." Stefano Castagnola of IGN Italy highlighted the game's originality and progression in revealing a "more intricate story than originally seemed" filled with "no shortage of interesting revalations". In contrast, Dean Waxman of Adventure Gamers found the narrative to be heavily segmented and difficult to follow, citing the "poorly fleshed out and uninteresting" character development".

Critics also noted the distinctive visual presentation of the game, with several critics praising the game's visual style as evocative of 1990s adventure games, including those from LucasArts. Edge praised the character design as "memorably drawn" and evocative of the "ugly" personal qualities of the characters. Similarly, Stefano Castagnola of IGN Italy described the "grotesque contours" of the visual presentation as "distinctive" but unlikely to appeal to all players. Dean Waxman of Adventure Gamers felt the graphics to be dated and flat, describing the character design as "bland and unappealing".

The game received positive comparisons to the 2018 adventure game Return of the Obra Dinn as a non-linear detective game. Commenting on the demo of the game, Lucas Pope, developer of Return of the Obra Dinn, also praised the game as having "fantastic art, great mysteries, and rewarding, methodical gameplay", a remark that was noted by the developers and subsequently used to promote the game. Edge noted that both games share a "grisly mise-en-scene" and "intelligent way it seeds clues everywhere, making oblique allusions to places and people". Katharine Castle of Rock Paper Shotgun noted the game was reminiscent of Return of the Obra Dinn in its "keen eye for detail and visual flourish", although observed the game "may not be quite as nuanced". William Hughes of The A.V. Club felt The Case of the Golden Idol "asks players to go far more in-depth (than Obra Dinn), sacrificing its inspiration's breadth for case-by-case depth."