Good

I hesitated to buy this because of the art style but this game had universal praise among detective game players so I had to pick it up. Now I'm all in with the graphics, puzzles, and story. I finished the base game so it's off to the DLC to get another fix.

Fantastic puzzle game, kept me guessing until the credit and the ending stringed everything together in a satisfying and unexpected way.

Loved the base game so much and I am thrilled to report that the DLC's live up to the original feelings.
Just switch your brain on, enjoy the story and deduce your heart out. A wonderful game to exercise the brain and practice patience. Never once felt like a chore, legit enjoying every moment and happy to come back to it.

I really like how this turns deduction into a game. It's not a hidden object game, and it's not mad libs, but it has good qualities of both, plus a whole deeper layer of thought that makes it better. Plus a fun interesting well-constructed story that gradually reveals itself through gameplay.

This is such a fun little gem. It reminds me a lot of The Return of the Obra Dinn. The big difference is that you’re not exploring in three dimensions. Instead, you’re flipping through a picture book with your mouse cursor, hunting for details, and figuring out what’s going on.

Each chapter challenges you to scan its tableau of characters and happenings, usually taking place as a specific event unfolds. You have to put names to all the faces involved, and summarize the event in a clever mad lib where you fill in blanks in a text with keywords you’ve discovered throughout the given chapter. The end goal is of course to unlock the story behind the Golden Idol, its characters, and how it fits on the timeline.

The story itself is really well told, but the way it’s dished out is even more effective. You’re basically being handed bite-sized puzzle pieces; tasked with fitting them together with as little guesswork as possible. All the details are there, you just have to figure them out. If you’re stuck, the answer is always to take a break and come back later. And since there’s very little minutiae, you’re always left asking questions about the broader strokes.

Highly recommended if you enjoy hyper focusing and puzzly deduction games.

I decided to try out The Case of the Golden Idol after playing The Roottrees, and while there are some pretty big differences in the game play and depth of storytelling, this game definitely hits the puzzle solving buttons. There's no guesswork involved - there's a clue for every piece of the story, as long as you're paying attention. I didn't need to pull out a notebook until the near the end of the original story line, but I've definitely needed one to keep track of things for the DLC. The jump in complexity for each puzzle/chapter is pretty satisfying. It's not a super deep game, in terms of hours of play, but it's something fun to pick up for an hour or two at night (or to power through in a day or two). Because the story is broken into chapters, it's easier to put down and pick back up than some other similar games where you might lose the threads you were working on if you take a break.

I need to be better at puzzle-solving and deduction but this was still a really good game. Would recommend.

Waltuh. Put your club away Waltuh. I'm not making you the Gryphon, Waltuh.

Quite possibly the best point and click I've ever played.