The Case of the Golden Idol Trailer Review
How do you make an engaging trailer for a detective game which is a lot of partially animated pixel art, clicking things in a room, and dragging blocks of text around?
Well after watching this trailer for The Case of the Golden Idol, I immediately went to Steam to download the demo and add the game to my wishlist.
The trailer starts with a quote from game developer Lucas Pope known for his games Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn (the latter is cited in the quote). If you don't know Lucas Pope, this quote won't do much for you, but if you DO know him, this trailer is laser targeted at you.
I typically recommend using quotes about an aspect of the game's design in case the audience doesn't recognize the name. Though even if you don't know the name and don't care about his opinion, the next title card says: A True Linear Detective Game. Then a simplified version of the game's UI pops on with the words: Narrative, Puzzle, and Non-Linear slide onto the screen. Non-Linear is dragged by a cursor to change the title card to say: "A True Non-Linear Detective Game"
I love how this title card both shows how the game is played AND tells us something about it. The three options are all valid, so even though only one option was dragged on, we can assume it's also has Narrative and Puzzle elements. There's then a quick flash of images from a variety of levels. The art style's sort of gritty and a bit grotesque design really stands out.
Person who doesn't know Sean Vanaman: Okay?
Person who knows (and likes) Sean Vanaman: HELL YEAH!
There's another quote: "Well made, clever, fantastic style." from Sean Vanaman who wrote Firewatch. Again, this is not a great quote for a general audience, but if you know who Sean Vanaman is then you're going to be more interested. This trailer is definitely targeting me since I'm a fan of both of these quoted game developers. The strength of targeting an audience is they'll likely get that much more excited and share it with their friends (like I am now!).
For example, I recently saw a TikTok video for candles with Asian themed scentslike boba, lychee, and melona popsicles. This isn't even THAT specific an audience, but it's just enough that you can bet I shared these candles with Asian friends of mine who I knew would relate. By the same token, I'm more likely to share this game with friends I know liked Obra Dinn and Firewatch. Just make sure your targeted audience is big enough to make your game profitable (if that's your goal).
The next part of the trailer shows how you click objects in the game, create a word bank based off the clues you find, and then drag those words to complete sentences (just like in the trailer title card). The trailer does a good job of using closeups of the game to keep the visual noise down, otherwise it would be too much to read in one shot.
Good use of a close up to simplify the game. especially because the words "lead" and "poisoning" are the brightest part of the screen and draw the most attention.
The next quote is: "Absolutely nails detective investigation." This is a good thing for me because I've never heard of the person quoted. If this quote said nothing about what the game is, it would be almost completely useless to me. Though since I enjoy games by the first two developers, I'm now curious to know who this person is! So this is a good example of how cross promotion can work in your favor.
The next section of the trailer shows a quick flash of a complete game screen with lots and lots of empty spaces for clues, but then focuses on a character, and then their name being filled in.
The trailer finishes with a flurry of interesting images, more clues, and some more connections like the words "spontaneous combustion" with the image of someone on fire. There are even more images and some closeups on words like "corpse" and "idol." It ends with an end slate where a cursor drags the word "now" to complete the sentence "Demo Live Now."
The music in this trailer is also really great. I like how the classical violin music gives it a period feel, and has great dramatic structure, ending in a frantic pace befitting the fast cut montage.
After I understand the basics of the game this shot tells me how complex the game can get. If this were one of the first shots of the trailer, this would look super overwhelming.
This is the rare trailer which I initially wished was a bit longer so I could understand the game better. But on second though, it achieved its goal of getting me to the store page so it clearly wasn't necessary. I understood enough to want to know more and find the store page, so there's no better sign of an effective trailer.
The lessons I'd take from this trailer are:
Know who your audience is (Detective game fans, and fans of the specific game developers quoted)
If possible, work the game's mechanics into the trailer's messaging. This helps the audience understand the mechanics and the game.
Gradually introduce the game's mechanics to teach the audience how the game works.
Use "close ups" to reduce visual noise, and create focus
Show variety and scope
Good music and striking art make everything in the trailer stronger
Did this trailer interest you? Why or why not?
