‘City of Voices’ – Give Me All the Mystery Games You Can

Let’s run it back to a trailer that popped up in the Thinky Direct a couple of weeks ago. City of Voices is an upcoming mystery game from one of the writers and designers of Rise of the Golden Idol. Good enough reason to have confidence in it. I’m still in the middle of my playthrough of Rise, and I love it.

[Editor’s Note: Seriously, Case of the Golden Idol and its sequel are two of the best mystery/deduction games of all time. Play ’em as soon as humanly possible. Consider it “required playing” for all our mystery game lovers out there!]

‘City of voices’ has time travel!

Honestly, City of Voices‘ premise sounds straight out of an ’80s comedy, to its benefit. You play as a young girl who gets bullied on her first day of school (check). Then suddenly, you’re transported back in time to Tikal, an ancient city of Maya (double check). I wanted so badly to make a Method Man joke there. I feel like acknowledging that will suffice. It also reminds me of What Lies in the Multiverse in a weird way. Maybe it’s the “transporting someone to another world” thing.

Given City of Voices‘ influence, you’ll recognize the overall gameplay style. And I like that. I think Idol-likes with different stories can be an intriguing genre to play with. So long as the inspiration is largely upheld. And obviously, that’s done here. This game also has everything I need out of the genre:

4-6 hours of pure deduction gameplay—no filler!

9 scenarios to solve, ranging from a simple opener to fiendishly difficult later levels

Lovingly drawn pixel art (by an artist who can’t stop drawing trees!)

Original orchestral soundtrack guaranteed to get you singing in the shower

Thank you, Steam, for getting right to the point of what City of Voices is going to be. Four to six hours is perfect for this style of game, and I’ll be sure to get this in when it comes out. There’s no release date yet, but you can wishlist it, and there’s a demo available.