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.

While the events on screen are frozen in time, players are freely able to navigate between rooms, open the contents of containers, and see what items and documents a character has on their person, as well as any words that they have said.

[4] In 'Thinking' mode, words of interest are used to piece together a narrative of what has occurred, through filling in blank slots against an incomplete description of events and characters.

Parts of the 'Thinking' mode will differ depending on the chapter, in some cases requiring players to identify full names of characters, and in others specifying situational characteristics such as the titles of Brotherhood members, or the occupants of certain rooms.

In 1742, Albert Cloudsley acquires the Golden Idol on an expedition after pushing his partner, Dr. Oberon Geller, off a cliff.

Ultimately, a band of thieves – led by Brotherhood cultist Walter Keene – storm Edmund's cabin, but they are subdued by a trap.

Edmund faked his own death, sapped the youth from a beggar outside, and made himself young again, taking the name Lazarus Herst.

He planned to use the idol to gain power and build an ideal society, uniting the threads of the game's story.

In the capital city, the children of the current Raja, Prince Tissa and Princess Anula, were competing to become the next heir to the throne.

Albert Cloudsley and Oberon Geller secretly sent a message to both potential heirs giving them instructions that they would follow should they fail the test.

Tissa, who failed, followed the instructions and threw a bottle with a cricket at the ritual machine, which sabotaged it and resulted in the death of Anula.

A few days later, Yupik agreed to meet with Dr. Oberon to reveal the location of the golden idol to him as repayment for saving Zubiri's life.

On a ship leaving the Lanka island, Oberon approached Albert with a proposition to search for the golden idol.

About 2 months after being told of the golden idol's location, the Raja sets off on an expedition with Prince Tissa and Zubiri Kerra in order to extend his own life.

Lavu Mata, a council member, visits Zubiri, who tells her the incantation needed to destroy the tower dweller.

Around 300 years ago, Lavu Mata found the golden idol inside the tower where she discovered it had the ability to transfer lifespans.

The Case of the Golden Idol was developed as the first commercial venture of the studio,[6] and scouted for publication by publisher Playstack in late 2021.

This free update introduces several quality-of-life features, including a new hint system, user interface improvements (with a focus on the Steam Deck), and additional localization options.

[30] Writing for The Guardian, Simon Parkin praised the game's "genuinely new and inventive forms of play" and innovative puzzles.

[31] Katharine Castle of Rock Paper Shotgun similarly observed instances where the game's leaps of logic "went one step too far" and reached a resolution through guesswork instead of deduction.

Alexis Ong of Eurogamer praised the humour and "witty, observational writing" in the game, remarking that it also contained a "Hogarthian flavor of political and social commentary" and "cheeky digs at the upper class disconnect with the common man.

"[1] Chris Livingston of PC Gamer praised the game's "elaborate and intricate" cases, and stated "solving these murders [is] not just a fantastic series of crime-scene investigations but a highly imaginative bit of storytelling.

[33] In contrast, Dean Waxman of Adventure Gamers found the narrative to be heavily segmented and difficult to follow, citing the "poorly fleshed out and uninteresting" character development".

[5] Similarly, Stefano Castagnola of IGN Italy described the "grotesque contours" of the visual presentation as "distinctive" but unlikely to appeal to all players.

[33] Dean Waxman of Adventure Gamers felt the graphics to be dated and flat, describing the character design as "bland and unappealing".

[17] Edge noted that both games share a "grisly mise-en-scene" and "intelligent way it seeds clues everywhere, making oblique allusions to places and people".

Club felt The Case of the Golden Idol "asks players to go far more in-depth (than Obra Dinn), sacrificing its inspiration's breadth for case-by-case depth.