Review #011 – The Rise of the Golden Idol

If Color Gray keeps pumping out these Golden Idol games then I’ll keep playing them because, man, I absolutely love solving these investigation-style puzzles. Like Case, Rise presents scenes with clues sprinkled around the environment, and to find the solution you’ll need to assemble sentences using your findings, mad-libs style.

There are new features here like the alternate-history 70s setting and the more painterly visual style, but the biggest new mechanic are the new overarching mysteries. These slowly uncover throughout each chapter as you solve the individual stages and reveal more of the plot, which is a great way to tie all of the scenarios together.

Similarly with Case, I enjoyed solving 95% of the puzzles with a few giving me some headaches. You can use hints but you’re encouraged to review every detail and deduce everything yourself. It’s a great system and most scenarios are satisfying to solve, but being unable to connect the dots can still get slightly frustrating occasionally.