Will Ackermann of Color Gray Games, one of the designers of The Rise of the Golden Idol, has announced a new game inspired by his day job – City of Voices. A trailer for this short “Golden Idol-like deduction game” has revealed it’ll focus on a young girl dealing with everyday life in suburban England, as well as bullying, friendship, and other challenges.
To understand her world, she’ll look for word and object clues, gathering facts and filling in detective sheets, as inspired by the mechanics of the Golden Idol series. This journey is mapped out in lovely, expressive pixel art created by Matt Frith (The Drifter, Theropods).
For those familiar with the Golden Idol series, there’s plenty recognisable in the City of Voices trailer. Like its inspiration, it features pop-up character dialogue that reveals more about elements of each scene, and players will be able to investigate objects to solve a wider mystery. One key difference is that each challenge will be solved by placing images, rather than words, allowing a new twist on the formula.
Per Ackermann, the creators of the Golden Idol series – Andrejs and Ernests Klavins – gave their blessing for the creation of this game, and in fact, expressed they “were flattered” by the idea. They actually lend an accolade to the game’s trailer, confirming their support.
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“They’ve both been really supportive, and have even said they ‘loved every minute of the demo’ we’ve made, which means so much to us,” Frith said of the project, per Eurogamer. “We hope other players will feel the same way.”
As announced, City of Voices is currently in development for PC. It doesn’t currently have a firm release date, but it’s already available for wishlisting on Steam. Here, you can also find a brief, tantalising description about what’s to come:
“In suburban England at the turn of the millennium, a young girl is being bullied on her first day at secondary school. Just when things seem like they can’t get any hairier, she is thrust into a fantastical adventure – more perilous and surreal than she could have ever imagined.”
“Investigate a series of moments frozen in time. Examine clues and make deductions to uncover what happened in each scenario. Piece together a heartfelt story full of twists and turns.”
