Call of the Golden Valley: A haunting Australian gothic mystery arrives next week

Another cool adventure on the horizon, and this one with a title that reminds me of the great adventures of the 80s that I used to play. This one also has a nice backstory, as well as the actual game plot.

The story behind Call of the Golden Valley is as personal as its narrative. During the COVID lockdowns, the lead creator, Maddy, was working as a ski instructor at Mt Buller in the very region that would later inspire the game’s setting. With lockdowns closing the slopes, she turned inwards, sketching out ideas and teaching herself game development from YouTube. The relative isolation, the solitude of the landscape, and her intimate connection with the environment around her all seeded the atmospheric tone and sense of place in the game.

Over time, what began as a small, experimental lockdown project evolved into a full-fledged game. After developing a prototype by herself, Maddy secured funding from Screen Australia’s Games Expansion Pack funding program, and later through VicScreens Games Production Fund. The funding allowed her to hire additional team members, which she is proud to say were at least 50% women or gender-diverse people, which is quite rare in the games industry.

Storyline:

Call of the Golden Valley is a true crime-like mystery game with an immersive narrative set in a charming but eerie Australian country town.

You play as Danielle, an American tourist travelling to an old town in the Australian countryside to visit her friend Marisa. Upon arrival, you discover that Marisa is not only nowhere to be found, but that she’s actually one of the many people who have recently vanished without a trace from this seemingly harmless small country town.

The game launches on Steam on 22nd October, and you can wishlist it there right now.

Key features include:

• Investigation & deduction mechanics: Gather clues and use a deduction board to connect threads of the mystery.

• Puzzle-solving & exploration: Examine environments, objects, and conversations to uncover hidden leads.

• Story-rich, atmospheric experience: Themes of disappearance, friendship and folly lie at the heart of the narrative.

• Authentic Australian setting: A remote country town with character, beauty, and unsettling undercurrents. All dialogue is fully voiced by Australian voice actors. Wombats and kangaroos also included!