“Hallucinogens, fax machines, parapsychology, and TV guides”: One of the decade’s best detective games is getting a sequel – and the demo is already here

The Case of the Golden Idol was one of 2022’s best games, a creepy, cultish detective story set among the British nobility of the 1800s. Now there’s a sequel on the way, entitled The Rise of the Golden Idol – and with a playable demo that you can try out right now.

I was lucky enough to get to try out the demo prior to release, and good news: it’s basically more of the game that earned the oh-so-rare “Overwhelmingly Positive” review score on Steam the first time around, with some improvements and tweaks along the way. There’s more dynamic animation in the tableaus you examine now, though the characteristically horsey way in which people are drawn remains untouched, which I was pleased to see.