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Methods: The Illusion Murders

Detective Red July must stop a serial killer who patterns his murders after optical illusions in this mystery visual novel set in the world of Methods.

Released Apr 21, 2024 Developer LockedOn Games Publisher Erabit Platforms Windows · Mac · Linux Interactive Fiction Visual Novel Puzzle Female Protagonist RPG

View on Steam ↗ Free (US · as of 2026-09-27)

What players say

Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-27.

85.6%positive104 reviews

Recommended · 4 found this helpful

“LockedOn has done it again. Obviously if you're already a fan of Methods: The Detective Competition, you should pick this up, it's a no-brainer. It's more of that game's humor, it takes 45 minutes to beat, and it's free! Those who haven't played The Detective Competition, if you…”

— a player, Steam review · 1 hrs played

Recommended · 3 found this helpful

“good story line enjoyable and would recommend”

— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played

Recommended · 1 found this helpful

“Speaking only for the ease of the achievements, I would recommend this game.”

— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played

Achievement stats

Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-27.

5achievements

67.1%median completion

58.5%rarest: Casefile Five Complete

Almost everyone has

80.8%Casefile One Complete — Completed the first chapter.

70.8%Casefile Two Complete — Completed the second chapter.

67.1%Casefile Three Complete — Completed the third chapter.

Rarest badges of honor

58.5%Casefile Five Complete — Completed the five chapter.

64.0%Casefile Four Complete — Completed the four chapter.

67.1%Casefile Three Complete — Completed the third chapter.

Latest official news

Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.

Jun 20, 2026
Update Notes for Jun 21

Missing backgrounds (finally) fixed — sorry it took so long for me to notice!

Apr 22, 2024
METHODS: THE ILLUSION MURDERS is LIVE for FREE now!!

Hello! We are thrilled to announce that "METHODS: THE ILLUSION MURDERS" has been released on Steam for free ! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2636320/_/ This gripping short visual novel is now avai

Apr 16, 2024
"Methods: The Illusion Murders" will be launching on April 22nd！！

🎉 Exciting News！ 🎉 Dear Detectives, We're thrilled to announce that "Methods: The Illusion Murders" will be launching on April 22nd, diving into the mysterious cases encountered by America's greatest

Dec 25, 2023
Methods Christmas 2023!

Wonderful Christmas Eve,🎄🎅 Let’s exchange gifts together!!

Dec 22, 2023
Winter Sale Alert: Methods Series at All-Time Lows!

Hello! As the frosty winds of winter usher in the season of joy and giving, we are thrilled to announce that the highly acclaimed Methods Series is set to grace your gaming library with unprecedented

Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-09-27.

Genres	Adventure, Casual, Indie, RPG
Player tags	Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel · Puzzle · Female Protagonist · RPG · Detective · Text-Based · LGBTQ+ · Story Rich · Cartoony · Stylized · Mystery (Steam store community voting)
Features	Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing
Languages	English, Simplified Chinese
Achievements	5
Official site	https://www.lockedongames.com/

Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 Processor: 1 GHz Memory: 1 GB RAM Storage: 1 GB available space