The Case of the Golden Idol
A deduction game about reconstructing murder scenes by answering questions about each panel.
Where The Case of the Golden Idol comes up1 episode or test
The Case of the Golden Idol works as a deduction game because it confirms each panel separately, so players never face the whole case at once. Developers dropped full-sentence answers as overwhelming and moved to clear, specific questions, with hints behind a mini-game. The lesson: keep questions specific but non-leading, and confirm progress in small steps. The sources give no sales or player numbers.
- Players wrote the whole murder
- Impossibly overwhelming
- Clear, unambiguous questions
- Not leading, not vague
- Each panel confirmed when solved
Developers dropped sentences for questions
From Golden Idol developers, game design notes
What was said about The Case of the Golden Idol
The Golden Idol swapped full-sentence answers for clear, specific questions. During development, players had to write full sentences to describe the murder, and it was impossibly overwhelming. The developers moved to clear, unambiguous questions instead.
Good questions "shouldn't be leading - but they also shouldn't be vague." The game is grouped with Return of the Obra Dinn and Riley & Rochelle as deduction games that work as logic puzzles of cross-referencing, elimination and inference.
The Golden Idol confirms each panel as it is solved. Players get confirmation panel by panel, so the whole case is never solved in one go. This keeps them motivated and stops them being overwhelmed.
Solving an entire case at once would be "a lot less manageable."
The Golden Idol puts its written hints behind a tedious mini-game. Players who want a hint have to get through a mini-game first, which the source calls tedious.
It is cited as an example of giving players hint support, alongside tools like pinboards and tagging in other detective games.
The 3 Types of Detective Game
It confirms each panel on its own so the whole case is never solved at once. Developers dropped full-sentence answers as overwhelming in favour of clear questions, and hints sit behind a tedious mini-game.
The Golden Idol swapped full-sentence answers for clear, specific questions. During development, players had to write full sentences to describe the murder, and it was impossibly overwhelming. The developers moved to clear, unambiguous questions instead.
Good questions "shouldn't be leading - but they also shouldn't be vague." The game is grouped with Return of the Obra Dinn and Riley & Rochelle as deduction games that work as logic puzzles of cross-referencing, elimination and inference.
The Golden Idol confirms each panel as it is solved. Players get confirmation panel by panel, so the whole case is never solved in one go. This keeps them motivated and stops them being overwhelmed.
Solving an entire case at once would be "a lot less manageable."
The Golden Idol puts its written hints behind a tedious mini-game. Players who want a hint have to get through a mini-game first, which the source calls tedious.
It is cited as an example of giving players hint support, alongside tools like pinboards and tagging in other detective games.
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