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The Rise of the Golden Idol
The Award-winning detective saga returns in this standalone sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol. Uncover the truth behind 20 strange cases of crime, death and depravity in the 1970s. The world has changed dramatically - the sins of humanity have not.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-04 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
56 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This game was an instant classic. It popularized its format (collecting words from a series of static environments and filling in blanks) so well that you’ll see people (including myself) refer to other games as golden…”
“I'm almost done with every single Idol case ever launched. I just love playing these games, it's such a unique gameplay and it helps me relax and feel smart at the same time. Can't wait to see what they do next!”
“so far, a great sequel to a fantastic original game. Since this builds off themes presented in the first game, I strongly recommend playing that one first. Otherwise, both games deliver a unique mystery experience in…”
42 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I really wanted to like it but in the end I felt like guessing too many blanks, swapping words until they matched. The riddles consisting on 90% blanks just weren't for me. Apart from that, a fun story, and thus a sad…”
“so far, a great sequel to a fantastic original game. Since this builds off themes presented in the first game, I strongly recommend playing that one first. Otherwise, both games deliver a unique mystery experience in…”
“Rather than a redo of Case, the mysteries here connect better, and fold in visual storytelling even more strongly. A chin-stroker for the ages.”
19 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I would give this game a "maybe," but if I have to choose between recommending it to people or not, I'd lean mostly towards not doing so. The art style is cool, similar to the first game but a bit different. I…”
“just as delightful as the first game! the art style change was surprising to see at first but the game really grows into it, and the shots of many of the rooms are incredibly framed”
“Very difficult but cool artwork and crazy stories”
14 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This is a great game that has obviously taken a lot of planning and work to pull off. Each chapter is several mysteries, which then combine at the end of the chapter into one giant mystery requiring an FBI-style…”
“Amazing world-building and story-telling amidst some very challenging puzzles.”
“Very difficult but cool artwork and crazy stories”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Absolute blast. Preferred the first one for its originality but this is a worthy sequel and the DLCs are fantastic too!”
“Excellent logical problem solving whodunnit game, strong story that has you piecing most of it together yourself along the way before revealing explanations to you which is very engaging. Great artwork as well. Well…”
“A brilliant sequel to one of the best deduction/investigation games of late. Get it, then get all DLC!”
18 of the 103 reviews raise this · 12 of them still recommend the game.
“I would give this game a "maybe," but if I have to choose between recommending it to people or not, I'd lean mostly towards not doing so. The art style is cool, similar to the first game but a bit different. I…”
“This review contains no spoilers! I'm giving this game a no, but understand it's a 51% negative, 49% positive. I agonised quite a while over whether to give a Yes because the game IS good, or a No because it's…”
“I really wanted to like it but in the end I felt like guessing too many blanks, swapping words until they matched. The riddles consisting on 90% blanks just weren't for me. Apart from that, a fun story, and thus a sad…”
16 of the 103 reviews raise this · 14 of them still recommend the game.
“I would give this game a "maybe," but if I have to choose between recommending it to people or not, I'd lean mostly towards not doing so. The art style is cool, similar to the first game but a bit different. I…”
“Starts of fine and challenging, but soon the solutions become pretty convoluted and a very annoying time-jumping aspect is introduced as well, which I found pretty hard to keep track of. Also, switching between scenes…”
“Loved the first game, and I love the second one even more. There are still some issues with some 'math' puzzles in here (like the first game) and a few scattered clues (torn book pages), but these are few and far…”
11 of the 103 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“I would give this game a "maybe," but if I have to choose between recommending it to people or not, I'd lean mostly towards not doing so. The art style is cool, similar to the first game but a bit different. I…”
“Compared to the first game this games puzzles mostly rely on the "broader story" which is not linear and its confusing. The animations feel like animated for the sake of animation without reason. Fun for 2.5 chapters…”
“Only one puzzle in the base game felt interesting. The rest felt like just filling out the names of characters over and over. Also, the writing is so cartoonishly bad in a way I did not expect after playing the first…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“This game was an instant classic. It popularized its format (collecting words from a series of static environments and filling in blanks) so well that you’ll see people (including myself) refer to other games as golden…”
“Compared to the first game this games puzzles mostly rely on the "broader story" which is not linear and its confusing. The animations feel like animated for the sake of animation without reason. Fun for 2.5 chapters…”
“I really enjoy this series and gameplay style and will always recommend it to lovers of classic adventure games and puzzles. The puzzles are interesting and the nonlinear nature of the storytelling adds an extra layer…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“An [Okay] deduction game. Same as the first one, and I'd recommend playing the first game first, as it is shorter, easier to get into, and overall slightly better. This felt worse in UI, harder to navigate. The new…”
“As good as the first game The new UI is harder to navigate through, though.”
“+ the story is cool with memorable characters + I like the puzzles (outside of a couple hard to make connections) + Art style and music is great + Game is oozing with creativity, despite it being the puzzle game in…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 92.6% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Recommended, but I think Case of the Golden Idol had a better story and puzzles. There is more to investigate in this game, but not all the scenes felt equal or as important as each other in terms of the story, with some being very straightforward and lacking in intrigue (beyond…”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played“A great game for two people to play, working on the puzzles together.”
— a player, Steam review · 37 hrs played“I'm going to miss this game, what an incredible journey. I cannot wait to see what else the devs come up with.”
— a player, Steam review · 52 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.
The Rise of the Golden Idol returns to mobile!
We're pleased to announce that The Rise of the Golden Idol has returned to mobile! You can now get The Rise of the Golden Idol on Apple App Store and Google Play Store - purchase the base game, and ad
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
Rise of the Golden Idol: Detective pass trailer
Detectives 🔍All four DLC Investigations are available to unravel now, so to celebrate we've created a brand new trailer to show you what to expect in the 17 new cases the Detective Pass has to offer.W
DLC 4 Patch 2
This is a minor patch in which we've addressed some visual inconsistencies: - Fixed the text title offset for book in DLC 4 scenario 4 - Added missing veridola to Mourn in DLC 3 scenario 2 - Replaced
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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 · Investigation · Detective · Conspiracy · Adventure · 2D · Puzzle · Atmospheric · Choices Matter · Crime · Dark · Exploration (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Partial Controller Support · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish - Latin America, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese - Brazil * |
| Achievements | 46 |
| Official site | https://www.riseofthegoldenidol.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: 1.7 GHz Dual Core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4600 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 2500 MB available space