The Game Census
The Case of the Golden Idol cover art

The Case of the Golden Idol

Color Gray Games · Playstack · 2022-10-13

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

AdventureIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Side view

Releases: Jun 11, 2024 (iOS), Dec 22, 2022 (Mac), Jul 09, 2024 (Xbox One), Jul 23, 2024 (PlayStation 4), Jul 09, 2024 (Xbox Series X|S), May 25, 2023 (Nintendo Switch)

A new kind of detective game that allows you to think and investigate freely. Discover clues surrounding 12 strange and gruesome deaths and build your own theory. Pick your suspect, deduce the motive, unmask the awful truth.

The Case of the Golden Idol is an Adventure and Indie game released in 2022, priced at $17.99, with an estimated 500,000 .. 1,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (98% of 10880 reviews).

91
playing now
98%
positive of 11k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
89/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
87/100
IGDB user rating (87 ratings)
4.67★
PlayStation Store rating (393 ratings)
7h
to beat · rushed 6.2h · completionist 9.7h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$17.99
steam price (US)

91 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

The Case of the Golden Idol is a 2022 puzzle video game developed by Color Gray Games and published by Playstack. The game depicts a narrative spanning 40 years in the 18th century, in which players collect clues to piece together concepts, characters, and evidence to provide context to the story. It was originally released for PC and was ported to consoles and mobile platforms in 2023 and 2024.

Trailer

The Case of the Golden Idol trailer thumbnail

The Case of the Golden Idol - Official Reveal Trailer

≈449,365 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 91 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 1,318 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~165/week).
  • · Review velocity up 39% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 3% of 28,739 Adventure games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 220k–495k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 11,004 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$17.99
Microsoft Store$17.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $6.75 at GameBillet (2026-03-20) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $17.99 · on sale 86 of 160 observed days · $11.24 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
74574520222026Week of 2022-10-01: 745 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 473 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 448 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 499 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 361 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 352 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 305 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 105 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 303 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 198 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 205 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 123 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 160 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 289 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 216 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 185 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 161 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 120 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 209 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 152 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 264 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 96 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 277 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 283 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 187 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 147 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 152 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 202 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 285 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 115 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 181 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 103 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 80 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 186 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 207 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

191232026-09-15 12:00 — 59 players2026-09-16 21:00 — 42 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 26 players2026-09-19 12:00 — 67 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 80 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 35 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 37 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 45 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 42 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 59 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 38 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 23 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 37 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 128 players2026-10-03 23:00 — 84 players2026-10-05 07:00 — 97 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 160 players2026-10-07 22:00 — 65 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 67 players2026-10-10 13:00 — 164 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 124 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 87 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 91 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
18434Oct 2022Aug 2026Oct 2022 — avg 95 · peak 253Dec 2022 — avg 77 · peak 271Feb 2023 — avg 68 · peak 232Apr 2023 — avg 34 · peak 83Jun 2023 — avg 46 · peak 166Aug 2023 — avg 58 · peak 291Oct 2023 — avg 59 · peak 155Dec 2023 — avg 118 · peak 313Feb 2024 — avg 86 · peak 232Apr 2024 — avg 55 · peak 161Jun 2024 — avg 79 · peak 205Aug 2024 — avg 55 · peak 126Oct 2024 — avg 62 · peak 159Dec 2024 — avg 151 · peak 376Feb 2025 — avg 64 · peak 147Apr 2025 — avg 85 · peak 223Jun 2025 — avg 49 · peak 204Aug 2025 — avg 54 · peak 121Oct 2025 — avg 61 · peak 185Dec 2025 — avg 65 · peak 152Feb 2026 — avg 73 · peak 174Apr 2026 — avg 65 · peak 169Jun 2026 — avg 93 · peak 283Aug 2026 — avg 56 · peak 135
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$99.99$6.522022-09-022026-10-142022-09-02 — best price $99.992022-12-26 — best price $15.292023-02-14 — best price $17.992023-04-07 — best price $14.392023-05-24 — best price $17.992023-07-22 — best price $13.382023-08-29 — best price $12.852023-11-01 — best price $17.992023-12-18 — best price $11.992024-01-31 — best price $11.692024-02-27 — best price $14.932024-04-05 — best price $14.282024-05-09 — best price $10.782024-06-19 — best price $11.692024-07-30 — best price $15.662024-09-20 — best price $8.872024-11-14 — best price $11.692024-12-26 — best price $17.992025-01-24 — best price $11.692025-03-08 — best price $17.992025-04-14 — best price $11.692025-06-26 — best price $10.792025-08-14 — best price $10.792025-09-23 — best price $17.992025-11-03 — best price $10.792025-12-06 — best price $17.992026-02-05 — best price $10.792026-03-19 — best price $6.522026-05-07 — best price $10.692026-06-02 — best price $15.852026-06-30 — best price $7.922026-08-26 — best price $17.992026-09-10 — best price $17.992026-09-25 — best price $10.792026-10-10 — best price $17.992026-10-14 — best price $17.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

2431272026-05-13 — 150 pageviews2026-05-17 — 164 pageviews2026-05-21 — 137 pageviews2026-05-25 — 178 pageviews2026-05-29 — 187 pageviews2026-06-02 — 185 pageviews2026-06-06 — 182 pageviews2026-06-10 — 171 pageviews2026-06-14 — 178 pageviews2026-06-18 — 134 pageviews2026-06-22 — 190 pageviews2026-06-26 — 183 pageviews2026-06-30 — 200 pageviews2026-07-04 — 208 pageviews2026-07-08 — 137 pageviews2026-07-12 — 203 pageviews2026-07-16 — 165 pageviews2026-07-20 — 151 pageviews2026-07-24 — 172 pageviews2026-07-28 — 215 pageviews2026-08-01 — 182 pageviews2026-08-05 — 154 pageviews2026-08-09 — 163 pageviews2026-08-13 — 144 pageviews2026-08-17 — 177 pageviews2026-08-21 — 174 pageviews2026-08-25 — 194 pageviews2026-08-29 — 171 pageviews2026-09-02 — 150 pageviews2026-09-06 — 157 pageviews2026-09-10 — 135 pageviews2026-09-14 — 153 pageviews2026-09-18 — 160 pageviews2026-09-22 — 136 pageviews2026-09-26 — 168 pageviews2026-09-30 — 179 pageviews2026-10-04 — 200 pageviews2026-10-08 — 148 pageviews2026-10-12 — 160 pageviews2026-10-13 — 177 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

17
achievements tracked
93.7%
earned "First Case Solved"
67.7%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudFamily Sharing3 DLC

11 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Spanish - Latin America, Traditional Chinese

Post-launch support: 3 DLC released, first 2022-10-13, latest 2023-08-31 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)7,54535%17
Xbox Series, Xbox One, Windows (Xbox)7,31612%18
PS5 (PlayStation)65855%18
Switch (Nintendo)630%0
Switch (Nintendo)480%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

2DDarkPuzzleMysteryThrillerDetectiveConspiracyStory RichAtmosphericSingleplayer

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Rusty Lake HotelUnforeseen IncidentsQuern - Undying ThoughtsRusty Lake: RootsRusty Lake ParadiseDraugenBlacksad: Under the SkinThe Room 4: Old Sins

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Discord ↗Reddit ↗Wikipedia ↗Speedruns ↗