Home / Games / The Case of the Golden Idol
The Case of the Golden Idol
A new kind of detective game that allows you to think and investigate freely. Discover clues surrounding 12 strange and gruesome deaths and build your own theory. Pick your suspect, deduce the motive, unmask the awful truth.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
96 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Calling it a more streamlined Curse of the Obra Dinn might be an over-simplification, but it would understate much of the charm & smart design decisions made in this great deductive reasoning game. Really elegant world…”
“🎮 total time played: 5 hours 🎖️ achievements: 100% (non dlc) 🖊️ rating: 9/10 fyi i haven't played the dlcs at all, so this is just a review for the base game. i love this!! this is an investigative mystery in its purest…”
“I loved this game. It masterfully creates an overwhelming feeling; initially, everything just looks like chaos. But by ingesting information, piece by piece, some order emerges. This is further enhanced by the way the…”
47 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“🎮 total time played: 5 hours 🎖️ achievements: 100% (non dlc) 🖊️ rating: 9/10 fyi i haven't played the dlcs at all, so this is just a review for the base game. i love this!! this is an investigative mystery in its purest…”
“Game is super cozy. Music is a vibe. Great character names and the overarching story was better than expected. Great job by the devs.”
“Narratively tight, clever, and coherent deduction game that rewards close observation with lots of charming lore and character details (along with the solutions to the puzzles, naturally). Amusingly and appropriately…”
35 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Calling it a more streamlined Curse of the Obra Dinn might be an over-simplification, but it would understate much of the charm & smart design decisions made in this great deductive reasoning game. Really elegant world…”
“I loved this game. It masterfully creates an overwhelming feeling; initially, everything just looks like chaos. But by ingesting information, piece by piece, some order emerges. This is further enhanced by the way the…”
“Really fun! Only got stumped in 2 small places. You don't need the hints! Just go over the things you might've thought were trivial. You'll get it.”
19 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Calling it a more streamlined Curse of the Obra Dinn might be an over-simplification, but it would understate much of the charm & smart design decisions made in this great deductive reasoning game. Really elegant world…”
“Game is super cozy. Music is a vibe. Great character names and the overarching story was better than expected. Great job by the devs.”
“Great little mystery puzzle game! Very well written and with some exquisite art. Some nice music also. The mechanics are simple, you'll observe scenes and evidence, and retrieve words (or numbers/symbols) that will be…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“🎮 total time played: 5 hours 🎖️ achievements: 100% (non dlc) 🖊️ rating: 9/10 fyi i haven't played the dlcs at all, so this is just a review for the base game. i love this!! this is an investigative mystery in its purest…”
“I love this game. It does a great job of moving at the correct pace to ease you into the game and then comes to a nice neat ending without overstaying its welcome. The game tells a great story which is contributed to…”
“Genuinely intriguing mystery that leaves you taken aback despite how slowly it unfolds before you.”
15 of the 103 reviews raise this · 13 of them still recommend the game.
“Narratively tight, clever, and coherent deduction game that rewards close observation with lots of charming lore and character details (along with the solutions to the puzzles, naturally). Amusingly and appropriately…”
“A mechanically simple point and click detective game. You look at these little vignettes and determine what the story/mystery that was going on around it. I would recommend this on sale. I think 10 dollars is the most I…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“Short, but excellent and pleasantly puzzly.”
“Great little mystery puzzle game! Very well written and with some exquisite art. Some nice music also. The mechanics are simple, you'll observe scenes and evidence, and retrieve words (or numbers/symbols) that will be…”
“I love this game. It does a great job of moving at the correct pace to ease you into the game and then comes to a nice neat ending without overstaying its welcome. The game tells a great story which is contributed to…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“[h1]Sights & Sounds[/h1] [h3]Beaten with the ugly stick[/h3] [list] [*] No need to mince words here; [i]The Case of the Golden Idol[/i] is ugly as sin. The characters are garish, the palette is unappealing, and even the…”
“Not a bad short detective game! The fill in the blank detective genre that confirms your answers in batches is something I only stumbled into recently, but this is as good of an entry into that as any. If this is your…”
“Weird in a good way. Can get pretty difficult at times and the hints aren't a big help”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“A mechanically simple point and click detective game. You look at these little vignettes and determine what the story/mystery that was going on around it. I would recommend this on sale. I think 10 dollars is the most I…”
“I heard a lot about this game but never really any details, so it managed to surprise me. It was fun! About 4.5 hrs and I bought it on sale so I'm happy with that. I thought it was going to be harder than it turned out…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“[h1]Sights & Sounds[/h1] [h3]Beaten with the ugly stick[/h3] [list] [*] No need to mince words here; [i]The Case of the Golden Idol[/i] is ugly as sin. The characters are garish, the palette is unappealing, and even the…”
“A very satisfying mystery story. There's the inner narrative of each scene, then the overarching narrative that you can pick up on, and the hidden story behind the scenes which - if you are paying attention - you'll…”
“If you like games of deductive reasoning, then this game is for you. The graphics are, in my opinion, ugly as sin, but they surprisingly grow on you to the point of becoming exceedingly charming. The soundtrack is…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 97.8% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“this is one of those games that i wish i could replay again for the first time. i really loved Return of the Obra Dinn and The Roottrees are Dead, and this scratched that same itch. also kind of has a Papers Please vibe? i wish the game was longer just because i enjoyed playing…”
— a player, Steam review · 15 hrs played“I really wanted to give this game a shot, but was worried this game would be too hard or convoluted for me to enjoy and was bracing to return it. I was pleasantly surprised by the gentle "learn as you go" approach and how the game steadily boosted complexity and forced me to…”
— a player, Steam review · 13 hrs played“The Case of the Golden Idol is now one of my favorite puzzles games I have seen or played, In which case is so well thought out and can be deduced and solved in so many ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ways it shows the tenacity and creativity of the developers. I also loved how each case is connected in…”
— a player, Steam review · 29 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Get the limited edition Golden Idol Saga pin collection
New, limited edition, Golden Idol merch has dropped! Get the Golden Idol Saga pin collection from Makeship, featuring three not-so-mysterious designs:Put suspects into a frenzy with the Masked Grouser
The Case of the Golden Idol returns to mobile!
We're pleased to announce that The Case of the Golden Idol has returned to mobile! You can now get The Case of the Golden Idol on Apple App Store and Google Play Store - play the first two cases for f
Golden Idol Franchise Sale- up to 50% off!
Detectives 🔎Our first ever Golden Idols franchise sale has begun! Get ready to delve into more mysteries with some of the deepest discounts we've ever offered. The sale runs from July 15th to July 22n
The Rise of the Golden Idol is available now!
The award-winning detective saga returns! The Rise of the Golden Idol is a standalone sequel set 200 years after the events of The Case of the Golden Idol. Dust off your detective skills to make sense
The Case of the Golden Idol - Redux update available now!
Last week we announced a new update coming to The Case of the Golden Idol - called Redux. Learn more about that announcement here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1677770/view/4677641741933164
Games like The Case of the Golden Idol
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
The Rise of the Golden Idol
94.9% · 2,625 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller
Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer
95.3% · 920 reviews
shares Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller, Detective
Pentiment
94.9% · 5,286 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Detective, Investigation
The Operator
89.9% · 3,524 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller
Kathy Rain: Director's Cut
93.3% · 863 reviews
shares Narrative, Detective, Investigation, Point Click
Adios
91.4% · 1,249 reviews
shares Narrative, Crime, Thriller, Interactive Fiction
Contradiction: Spot The Liar
95.3% · 2,854 reviews
shares Conspiracy, Crime, Detective, Investigation
Loco Motive
94.0% · 849 reviews
shares Narrative, Crime, Detective, Investigation
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie |
| Player tags | Mystery · Detective · Investigation · Puzzle · Conspiracy · Story Rich · Point & Click · 2D · Thriller · Interactive Fiction · Dark · Atmospheric (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Spanish - Latin America, Traditional Chinese, Turkish * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 17 |
| Official site | https://www.thegoldenidol.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS *: Windows 7 Processor: 1.7 GHz Dual Core Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 2 GB available space