The Rise of the Golden Idol: Everything We Know

300 years down the line, and the mystery behind the Golden Idol remains as elusive as ever. After the showstopping The Case of the Golden Idol, and the consequent DLCs, Color Gray Games and Playstack are at it again to release the sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol. High expectations run many gamers’ cups over for different reasons. Some have been patiently waiting for The Rise of the Golden Idol to cross over to platforms besides Switch and PC. Others probably threw the Switch at a wall after the dodgy performance issues it sustained that practically rendered the game unplayable. 

Meanwhile, some are simply looking forward to experiencing a story that’s just as captivating and enthralling as Case. Regardless of your reason, all roads are leading to the sequel, with only a few stumbling blocks to iron out. Here’s everything we know about The Rise of the Golden Idol ahead of its release. 

What is The Rise of the Golden Idol?

The award-winning detective game is back, with a fully-fledged sequel taking over the reins in the Golden Idol series. Picking up where The Case of the Golden Idol left off is The Rise of the Golden Idol sequel. It’s an upcoming detective saga only recently announced at the pre-show Game Awards 2023. Yet, even with the short timeline, The Rise of the Golden Idol is scheduled to arrive a lot sooner than you may think.

Story

Connecting the tissue between The Case of the Golden Idol and the sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol, is a fast-forward in time. It’s been 300 years since the Golden Idol changed the fate of the Cloudsleys. Now, the stories have become strung dry, only spoken in passing as an ‘obscene myth.’ But not everyone is keen to put the Golden Idol’s story to rest. So, we follow along the quest of a tenacious relic hunter embarking on a treacherous journey to unearth the powerful Golden Idol and reshape the world.

Along the way, taking the role of an ‘observer,’ you’ll unravel dark mysteries involving crime, death, and depravity in the Blood and Disco times of the 1970s. Your goal will be to solve 15 mysterious cases in whatever way you like. You’ll meet many interesting characters, each with unique motives and agendas. It’s up to you to identify a suspect and find the clues and evidence to support your theory. 

For a more detailed story description, here’s what the game’s Steam store page has to say:

As the observer, you must investigate 15 strange cases of crime, death, and depravity. Like before with The Case of the Golden Idol, you are free to investigate however you wish and build your own theory.

You must make sense of a grand mystery that unravels across an age of hallucinogens, fax machines, parapsychology, and TV guides.

Enlightenment seekers, convicts, chat show hosts, and corporate middle management will all have a role to play in the wider mysteries that unfold. Like always, many of these subjects will have their own motives. Some will be carrying more than agendas.

Gameplay

As far as we can tell, The Rise of the Golden Idol seems to emulate a similar gameplay style to its predecessor. For reference, The Case of the Golden Idol is a point-and-click detective game. Players follow the characters and pay close attention to the scenes they interact with. They piece together clues that’ll inform you of what happened and who did what.

To do so, you listen to people’s conversations and thoughts. You also take a step further by performing detective routines like assessing what they have on their person. Whether statements, texts, or clickable objects, each may reveal clue words that you’ll slot in your journal. Afterward, you start to fill in the blanks in a summary of events while also matching names and agendas to suspects to solve an overarching mystery.

As genre-specific as it may sound to some, The Case of the Golden Idol is a fantastic puzzle game everyone ought to try. Its story is genius, pulling you into its web of mystery with each click. Now, the sequel seems to be picking up where the predecessor left off. You’ll have the freedom to approach the crime investigation however you wish and pinpoint your designated suspect.

Oh, and of course, how genius is a 1970s setting as well? The Steam store page hints at several era-specific materials dispersed all across the game, including ‘hallucinogens, fax machines, parapsychology, and TV guides.’ Plus, the pulpy visual style is perfectly fitting of the 1970s too.

Development

Developer Color Gray Games and publisher Playstack are working on The Rise of the Golden Idol. Despite only recently showcasing the teaser trailer at the pre-show Game Awards event, it seems development is going well. It seems the game will arrive a lot sooner than expected!

Keep a close eye on the development progress with regards to the art style, and you may spot subtle differences over the years. The Case of the Golden Idol featured a grimy and grungy pixel art style that was unique and tasteful. But the DLCs are geared away from it, and the sequel now seems to shift from the pixel-focused style to more of a 3D, pulpy look. Still, it seems to work much better for the sequel, especially with the ‘70s theme.

Trailer

The Rise of the Golden Idol teaser trailer is out now. As with most teaser trailers, it doesn’t reveal much, but there’s enough here to give you a rough idea of what to expect.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

We don’t have an exact release date yet. However, we can confirm that The Rise of the Golden Idol will arrive sometime in 2024. Also, it’ll launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam, and iOS and Android via Netflix. No editions have been confirmed yet.

Feel free to follow the official social handle here. We’ll also keep an eye out for new updates and let you know as soon as they come up.

So, what’s your take? Will you be picking up a copy of The Rise of the Golden Idol when it drops in 2024? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.