By Cameron Smith, Staff Writer for Arts and Entertainment

About The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a point-and-click visual novel mystery game developed and published by SEGA. Designed by die-hard Sonic fans under SEGA’s Social Team in utter secrecy, the game was shadow dropped as an April Fools surprise on March 31, 2023 exclusively on Steam! In this game, players join Team Sonic as they participate in a murder mystery party.

Plot: A

The ‘’murdered” Sonic in the game’s launch trailer

Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends board a high-tech event train known as the Mirage Express to celebrate Amy Rose’s birthday, and the birthday girl decides to host a murder mystery party! However, the game starts off with an unexpected turn of events, as the first “murder” victim is…Sonic!? Playing as a new hire on the train, players join Sonic’s friends Tails and Amy to investigate each of Sonic’s friends throughout the train and decide if they are suspects. But, here is the real question—is this all really part of the game? Or is there something even bigger afoot on the Mirage Express?

P.S. Despite being released on April Fool’s Day, this game is 100% real! No trickery involved!

Reception: A+

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog received high praise from critics, including an 87/100 from Metacritic. Polygon stated that the game surpassed the expectations of an April Fool’s Day joke for its art, humor, music and sincerity. In comparison, players and Steam users also gave good reviews on the game, with comments garnered as “overwhelmingly positive” by Metacritic! As stated by Katie Chrazanowski, the runner of the SEGA Social Team, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog gained over one million downloads a week following its release!

Watch The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog’s launch trailer here.