“The Rise of the Golden Idol” – Every Level Ranked

I recently replayed “The Rise of the Golden Idol” because the DLC “The Sins Of New Wells” came out, and while playing I remembered how I’d ranked all of the levels in the original game.

It only seems fair to give the sequel the same treatment (and this time, yet again, I’ll add a little tag like “DLC-2” or “4-3” to show you which part of the chapter / DLC it came from). Also, there will be some SPOILERS if you haven’t beaten the game already.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Meh

24 – Constriction (Prologue)

The opening part of a puzzle game is almost always the weakest by design, as it’s there to teach the player the mechanics without doing anything too crazy.

“Constriction” gets bonus points for the shocking strangulation scene, but otherwise it’s very simple and forgettable.

23 – The Raid (DLC-3)

“The Raid” is possibly the most bat-shit insane Golden Idol level ever, and at first I was really intrigued to see what the scene meant. I was fed up of it by the end.

Everyone’s accounts are extremely unhelpful by design, and the limited environment led to little clues or deductive wiggle room.

22 – Feathered Frenzy (4-1)

“The Rise of the Golden Idol” has a pretty consistent story pace that ensures every level you play is related to the main story. “Feathered Frenzy” is the exception to this.

The bird puzzle was fun albeit a bit random, and the ties to the overarching plot are an afterthought.

OK

21 – Speildance (4-3)

Another of the more out-there puzzle premises, seeing the player decipher the coded language behind an ancient, long-forgotten dance.

It’s short and sweet in some regards, but too odd for my liking.

20 – Academic Impact (1-1)

The first real level if you don’t include the tutorial prologue, “Academic Impact” got off to a standard start.

It’s not the most shocking scene in the series, nor is it challenging by any means. It’s a start, I suppose.

19 – Newsflash (1-3)

“Newsflash” is much more of a direct sequel to “Academic Impact” than the actual subsequent case, following the Nowaks partaking in some sneaky media manipulation.

The stuff surrounding the Red Eye curse was intriguing at first, but the level on its own is quite mundane.

18 – Trouble Unleashed (DLC-2)

The second “Sins of New Wells” level had so much potential – a dog racing track with a shady substory? Count me in.

Unfortunately, the puzzles you have to solve are quite boring, and the culprit twist didn’t exactly blow my socks off.

17 – Boardroom Brawl (5-2)

“Boardroom Brawl” has a funny premise of an entire board finding out a member’s filthy secret, and the revelation that the Idol could transmit to the whole world set up the finale of the plot.

In terms of gameplay and mystery, however, this level felt quite filler – which was weird considering there were only a handful of levels after this one.

Good

16 – The Procedure (3-3)

The inner workings of the Harmony Foundation were definitely the highlight of “The Procedure”, as otherwise it was fairly standard.

It was cool to find out more about the Idol and how Tesa Nevari had misinterpreted it.

15 – Unraveling (DLC-4)

Alongside the third case of the DLC, the finale “Unraveling” is one of the most insane mystery levels I’ve ever played.

You experience the hallucinations of the Idol first-hand, which led to some of the coolest yet insanely hard puzzles of the series. Almost too hard, I would say.

14 – Backstage Drama (4-2)

Like “Feathered Frenzy”, “Backstage Drama” in Chapter 4 was almost too far removed from the main plot for my liking – until the following level “Speildance” tied it all together.

On its own, this is a harmless filler case that sees a bunch of stage performers going crazy for one reason or another.

13 – Following Orders (DLC-1)

My favourite of the “Sins of New Wells” levels was actually the very first one.

The fast food mystery was simple yet compelling, and seeing the destruction of the crime scene made me eager to keep playing … even if the rest of the DLC failed to answer that particular mystery.

12 – Garden Retreat (2-1)

My favourite thing about “Garden Retreat” is how you’re not shown the body and have to infer the details of the crime.

There’s not much going on, but the shrouded nature of the murder made it more interesting than others.

11 – Under Construction (1-2)

Easily the best puzzles of the first chapter came in “Under Construction”.

Having to work out who operated each machine is a lovely little puzzle, and finding the Red Eye corpse in the pipe was a secondary shock and a half.

10 – Protest Movement (3-2)

I like how you see the aftermath of the incident first, but otherwise I would’ve liked to see more of the Idol’s effects rather than the second-hand hinting.

“Protest Movement” is still a good level, though, and it’s fun to trace the path of the broken fountain.

9 – Ancient Artifacts (5-3)

“Ancient Artifacts” is definitely one of the most mind-blowing levels in the game.

It comes as quite a shock to find out Oriel Toussaint’s body and personality have been taken over, and the information is conveyed well.

8 – Beach Trip (5-1)

Bikini-clad supermodels aside, this was one of the most fun levels to play.

Finding out which model was who as well as who’s bag belonged to whom were two great puzzles, and the twist that the dying model got spiked was a neat turn of events.

Great

7 – Ignition (3-1)

I’ll never forget when playing the original Golden Idol game when you first come across the burning man, and “Ignition” almost recaptures that shocking scene.

The fingerprint puzzle was good, and I liked the subplot of Eugene Marmot trying to prove himself – and setting himself on fire in the process.

6 – Going Once! (2-4)

I never thought an auction would be so entertaining.

Working out which bidder bid on each lot is a fun enough puzzle, but then the blackout leads to a genuine confusion over the victim and the culprit.

5 – Blockbuster Release (2-3)

“Blockbuster Release” was one of my favourite levels from the premise alone, but the way the level played out cemented it as a top five candidate.

Working out the film’s character names as well as the subplot of the bet was lots of fun, and my mind was blown when I realized the alien was hiding the crystal in its teeth.

4 – Steelside Warehouse (5-4)

“Steelside Warehouse” rivals the final case in terms of length and complexity, despite only having around half the number of spots to investigate and words to fill in.

You piece together the inner workings of the homeless camp as well as the party on the boat, but the real mind-bender was figuring out what Hunter Wolf was doing behind the scenes.

3 – Behind Bars (2-2)

Chapter 2 was my favourite chapter in the game, with three of the four levels making the top six on my list.

My favourite of these levels has to be “Behind Bars”, which sees the player figuring out a prison escape. Who doesn’t love deciphering a hidden code within a letter?

Amazing

2 – The Final Clash

Both Golden Idol games have sprawling finales that work as mysteries in their own right whilst providing new, game-altering twists. In some regards, “The Final Clash” eclipses the original in these aspects.

The Hunter Wolf twist was great, and seeing the unfortunate events play out over multiple timeframes led to some intense deductive reasoning.

1 – Complex (4-4)

The Golden Idol games are at their best when you have to piece together a murder whilst working out the identities of all involved, and nowhere did I have a better time with this premise than “Complex”.

There are so many characters to name and dynamics to uncover, and every single second I spent piecing the information together felt like peak mystery gaming.

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: