A review code was provided by the publisher.
I remember staying at my cousin’s place back in 1998 when my family and I were vacationing in the good ol’ USA. In between trips to tourist spots, I’d hog my cousin’s computer to play games like Carmen Sandiego, Broken Sword, and The Secret of Monkey Island.
My teenage brain, at the time, didn’t know that I was experiencing the heyday of point-and-click puzzle games. And, even though I’ve covered countless games over the years, few managed to replicate the sheer sense of triumph upon solving these mysteries. That was a feeling that I thought only the classics could offer until I played The Rise of the Golden Idol.
The Rise of the Golden Idol, from developer Color Gray Games and publisher Playstack, is the follow up to 2022’s Case of the Golden Idol. Set a century after the events of the first game, you can jump straight to this standalone sequel without trying its predecessor. Those who love brain teasers are bound to have a memorable experience all throughout, since it features over a dozen scenarios with intricate cases that you need to solve.
In The Rise of the Golden Idol, you control a detective-slash-observer who tackles a string of mysterious cases involving the theft and use of the titular idol. Taking center stage are organizations like the Harmony Foundation and OPIG, who seem to have sinister designs for the populace. Alongside these are themes and narrative arcs about mind control/memory wiping, test subjects, cover-ups, hippies, enlightenment, and experiments gone awry.
The chapters in the game consist of scenarios, and each scenario can have two or more panels/screens, along with characters that have limited animations. There were certainly scenes that I found unnerving, given the depiction of murder and crimes being committed. There were also a few lighthearted or comical portions, though I’d learn about darker secrets as I progressed, such as a panel where people were taking pictures of models at the beach. I soon realized that another area had a model who was helplessly strapped to a gurney as part of a disturbing experiment.
The story isn’t laid out in a straightforward manner either, as the cases you tackle let you glean more information, eventually leading to a summary for each chapter. Likewise, there are portions that are structured as flashbacks, helping piece together a rich narrative.
The meat and potatoes of any puzzle game, however, are the confounding brain teasers, and The Rise of the Golden Idol is chock-full of these. Given the point-and-click controls, the basic mechanic involves clicking on icons on the screen, which would then add names and terms to your “Word Bank.”
Naturally, I had to make sure that I’ve collected all that’s necessary. From there, I had to match these terms and phrases to the correct individuals or written statements; words are also color-coded when it comes to nouns, verbs, and names, so as to make the process smoother.
The mechanic might sound simple on paper. Indeed, sometimes only a bit of trial and error is enough, and sometimes the answer is a given due to the sentence structure. Thankfully, the concept is further complemented by creative and, at times, perplexing puzzle design.
For example, there were recurring characters in multiple chapters, and I was able to easily remember their names. Ditto for names written clearly on clickable objects like call sheets, identification cards, or tenant lists. Then, there are those that lean more on contextual clues, logical reasoning, and your powers of deduction.
For instance, a clue about one individual might be in another clickable area, is only mentioned in a quip in passing, or I’d have to rely on a process of elimination — i.e. “I know five of these seven individuals, so the remaining two must have either of these names.”
Going beyond these concepts, many of the puzzles in The Rise of the Golden Idol are truly unique and challenging, too. I often found myself jotting down notes, keeping multiple screenshots, and thinking outside the box. There are also hints to aid players — you’re not given the solutions outright, so you shouldn’t worry about unwarranted hand-holding either.
One memorable moment was a scene where a character was killed by birds in an aviary. There’s a handbook with details about the different species, but its pages have been torn up. To solve the case, I had to crop and combine several screenshots using Paint.net until I could properly read the contents. In another scenario, I watched as a character danced on a TV show; I had to pause the video frame by frame to interpret his movements and find out their meaning. One section even had a clue that was barely noticeable: a perpetrator’s fake tooth and droplets of paint around it.
Another factor that truly kept me engaged in my 12 hours of playing The Rise of the Golden Idol was how it consistently subverted expectations, not just with its themes and narrative, but also with the discoveries being made. Early in the game, certain clues made me think that a character died because they fell down a slippery stairwell. I eventually learned, from a torn piece of fabric, that they actually fell from a bridge. Later, one researcher who I thought was a clumsy chump turned out to be a high-ranking member of the sinister organization.
All in all, The Rise of the Golden Idol is a callback to the heyday of point-and-click puzzle games, one that’s sure to perplex and stymy even the smartest folks you know. However, it’s these challenges, and the creative ways in which they’re presented, that make the whole experience rewarding. Pick it up for yourself if you’re a fan of puzzle games, or grab it for a friend who’s interested in the genre. Either one of you will likely message the other asking for help, and you’ll have an enjoyable time all the same.
Review Score: 9 out of 10
The Rise of the Golden Idol is available now for the Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox One. The mobile version is available for the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and through Netflix. – Rappler.com
Jason Rodriguez is a freelance writer from the Philippines. He’s contributed to various gaming outlets, including GameSpot, Digital Trends, Polygon, PCGamesN, Game Informer, UploadVR, and more. He has around 5,000 published articles—around 160 game reviews and the rest, well most of them, are guides. You can follow him on X: @JasonR_EG.