![]() ![]() While all of them are technically murders, whether at a fancy dinner party or inside a locked room, figuring out whodunnit is only part of the puzzle. Those mysteries are engagingly weird too. Initially, the most unusual thing about its version of the 18th century USA is the existence of the cursed Golden Idol, but as the mysteries follow on from each other it becomes an entire alternate history. The Case of the Golden Idol was unique though, presenting a string of unsettling crimes that get weirder as they go on, slowly revealing a world that's way more twisted than you at first thought. Standouts have included Immortality, Pentiment, Strange Horticulture, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, and Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County. Jody Macgregor, AU/Weekend Editor: What a year it's been for mystery games, and mystery-adjacent ones too. And each murder fills in more of the story of the Idol itself, its history and powers, and lives of the ruthless people who would kill to posess it. The brilliantly simple Mad Libs-like mechanism of filling in blanks with the words you collect to slowly form the means, motive, and identities of all involved is the perfect match for the crude but weirdly appealing pixel art style and animation. There's the voyeuristic thrill of going through people's pockets and desks, examining their belongings, reading their notes, and discovering their secrets. To uncover that wonderfully twisted tale of greed and corruption, murders need to be solved by carefully examining the crime scenes, which are frozen in time at the moment of the victim's death. Chris Livingston, Features Producer: I can't think of another time this has happened when playing a game, but as I wrapped up The Case of the Golden Idol, the final few pieces of the story falling into place, I thought: "This would have been a great novel." Spread across a dozen murders, all involving the mysterious idol, a deep and fascinating story unfolds, one tiny sliver at a time.
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