Draknek & Friends Official Podcast Episode 13: Andrejs Klavins (Golden Idol)
Feb 6, 2025
Andrejs Klavins, the designer behind The Case of the Golden Idol, shares his work on narrative-rich deduction puzzle games. He discusses frozen-in-time vignettes, gameplay-first prototyping, iterative UI changes, and the naming trick that eased puzzle validation. Conversation covers scaling from a tiny team to larger projects, localization headaches, and adapting the games for mobile and different platforms.
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Design Scenarios From Big Picture To Local Mystery
- Start scenarios from big-picture story needs, then design local mysteries that fulfill required plot beats without writing yourself into corners.
- Map motivations and chronology first, then choose what the player will discover to balance drama vs investigation.
Timeline Choices Serve Clarity Not Chronology
- The team reordered scenarios for clarity, eventually making the sequel non-chronological to allow thematic exposure while controlling spoilers.
- Chronology choices were driven by player confusion and team expansion needs.
Team Grew From Two People To Ten
- The first game was made by two people plus composer Kyle Misco; the sequel grew to ~10 people including four full-time staff and many contractors.
- Scaling introduced coordination and coherence challenges across narrative and design.