Quick Links

  • Exploring Mode: All Term Locations
  • Thinking Mode: Identities
  • Thinking Mode: Camp Location
  • Thinking Mode: The Series Of Events

So you consider yourself a detective, then? This is The Case of the Golden Idol, one of the grisliest, most mysterious cases ever to drop in your lap. Over the next few hours, you're in for some seriously difficult brainteasers and enticing narrative twists.

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Luckily, the first chapter of the game is pretty good at easing you in. For what it's worth, we highly recommend playing with object highlights on - having to pixel-hunt through the game's scenes to pick up terms is a pretty frustrating experience. Without further ado, the game is afoot.

In these guides, we will provide hints and clues to the solution before giving you the correct answers in an expandable section.

Exploring Mode: All Term Locations

The first case of the game has only 11 terms to find - it's a nice easy introduction to the game's mechanics. You'll use the terms that you come across to fill in all the blanks in Thinking Mode.

To learn a term, you'll either need to examine certain objects and get the terms automatically, or click on underlined words in passages of text. For every guide we provide, we'll tell you exactly where to find every term at least once.

When you learn a term, the underline will become a dotted line.

Term

Location

Albert

The note in the pocket of either man.

Cloudsley

Oberon

Geller

Horn

On the map in the pocket of the man being pushed off the cliff.

Finger

Thumb

Shadows

Bay

Ruins

Xenopolis

Once you have all the terms, you should click the Exploring/Thinking toggle option at the bottom of the screen to see what mysteries we have to solve.

Thinking Mode: Identities

There are only two people to identify in this case, thankfully. To do this, we'll examine the contents of their pockets:

  • There's not much to go in in the pockets of the pusher.
  • There are two clues in the pockets of the man being pushed - a scalpel and a bottle of medicine.

From the notes in the men's pockets, we know that one of the pair is a doctor: Oberon Geller.

Solution

The man on the left is Albert Cloudsley, and the man on the right is Oberon Geller.

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Once you've completely filled in a scroll correctly, the terms used will remain there permanently. You can then drag copies of those terms from those slots if you need them for other panels.

Thinking Mode: Camp Location

To work out the location of the camp, we need to take a look at the map and the makeup of the islands in the scene itself. The scene is helpfully portrayed in the panel itself, but puzzles in the future will require you to flip between Exploring and Thinking a ton to reference clues.

  • Take a look at the horizon. There are two landmasses in the distance, one bigger than the other.

Solution

Using the horizon, we can conclude that that the camp is in Horn of Thumb.

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Thinking Mode: The Series Of Events

We can use the context clues provided in this case to lead us to a likely scenario that leads to the scene we see before us.

  • The eponymous golden idol is in one of the bags. The bag has medical equipment in it, so who does it likely belong to?
  • The notes in the men's pockets hint at how the treasure from the expedition should be split us. Does this help provide a motive?

Solution

Albert Cloudsley pushed Oberon Geller from a cliff in the Horn of Thumb on Monkey Paw Island.

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Once you solve this clue, you'll be allowed to move onto the next case.

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