The sequel to one of the best murder mystery games ever is only a month away, and there's a new demo out now

A police man next to a gun
(Image credit: Color Gray Games)

Grisly, innovative, and fascinating, The Case of the Golden Idol is one of my favorite mystery games of all time. The individual murders you have to solve are incredibly satisfying as you pore over all the details, search the crime scenes for clues, and even lift items right from the suspects' pockets, and the overarching story of the mysterious relics that links all these murders together is worthy of its own page-turning novel.

And now a sequel is afoot! The Rise of the Golden Idol transports us into the gritty 1970s for another round of gruesome crimes, and we don't have much longer to wait to get our hands bloody. Color Gray Games and publisher Playstack have announced a release date, and it's barely a month away: The Rise of the Golden Idol releases on November 12. Here's a trailer for a glimpse of the baffling crimes that await you.

The Rise of the Golden Idol - Official Release Date Trailer - YouTube The Rise of the Golden Idol - Official Release Date Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

As a famous detective likes to say… just one more thing. There's also a new "extended" demo out right now on Steam so you can start solving your first couple of cases. The new demo includes everything from the original demo, plus an additional murder to puzzle over. I know what I'm doing on my lunch break today, how about you?

This is a little awkward after I just said one more thing, but… just another one more thing: the original game has just been updated with a new UI and hint system and Steam Deck support. If you've never played The Case of the Golden Idol, this seems like a great time to give it a go.  

Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.

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