This gem surfaces soon
We have it ready, but it is not unsealed yet. Come back when it opens.
Opens on 2026-08-13 (JST)
Twelve high schoolers with supernatural powers wake up locked in together. Name the wrong mastermind, and that person is executed.
Per Steam's own listing, twelve high schoolers, including the protagonist, wake up in a mysterious building with one rule handed to them: find the mastermind. Name the wrong person, and that person is executed. The only way out is to expose the mastermind or assassinate them. But it doesn't end there, because everyone who wakes up in this building has a supernatural power of their own. As incidents keep occurring, the player investigates and reasons toward a culprit, then faces the discussion that follows. In the real-time discussion part, the store text lays out three rules: the discussion auto-progresses, you have to spot the lies and contradictions hidden in the conversation, and you refute them by presenting the evidence you've gathered. Who is the mastermind, why were twelve people locked in here, and what are these powers, the store text asks, only those who see through to the truth survive; solve the two 'tricks,' mystery and superpower, at once. Made and self-published by the solo developer Akizuki Yume, whose only Steam listing is this game. Priced at ¥1,200 at a launch discount, it is Positive at 92 percent across 13 reviews (12 positive, 1 negative), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure. Steam's content descriptors carry a general mature-content flag, and the developer's own note, quoted here rather than softened, says this is a mystery visual novel centered on a death game, containing depictions of violence including blood, stabbing, blunt-force injuries, corpses and scenes depicting suicide, presented as part of the narrative; there is no mention of sexual content anywhere in that description. It supports Japanese only. One honest note: every one of its 13 reviews is in Japanese, not one is in English, and no genuine English-language coverage exists yet, on AUTOMATON WEST or elsewhere.
Published 2026-08-13
01First, the one feeling
- Most mystery games let you pause and think. Here the discussion refuses to wait, so the tension isn't just 'did I figure out who's lying,' it's 'did I catch it in time,' and those are different kinds of pressure entirely.
- Knowing the wrong accusation gets someone executed, not just a failed prompt, changes how carefully you weigh a guess before committing to it. The cost of being wrong is a character, not a retry.
- Layering twelve distinct supernatural powers onto the cast means 'evidence' isn't only physical objects; it's also knowing what someone's power can and can't actually do, which turns character-knowledge itself into an investigative tool.
02Who this is for (and who it is not)
For you
- You want Danganronpa's real-time, no-pause evidence-refutation debate, where a lie has to be caught the instant it passes, not solved on your own clock
- You want the stakes of a wrong accusation to be a person, not a quiz penalty, with a full narrative and 200,000-plus characters of script behind it
- You want small and self-published: solo developer Akizuki Yume's only Steam listing is this game, produced with a public 2,829-entry voice-cast audition
Not for you
- You want to avoid violent content; the developer's own content descriptor names blood, stabbing, blunt-force injuries, corpses and suicide depiction as part of the narrative
- You want a game already found in the West; every one of its 13 reviews is in Japanese, and no English coverage exists yet
03The roots of this taste
92% positiveonly 13 reviews — yet almost no one has found it
Trick × Trick Buried gem
Per Steam's own listing, twelve high schoolers, including the protagonist, wake up in a mysterious building with one rule handed to them: find the mastermind. Name the wrong person, and that person is executed. The only way out is to expose the mastermind or assassinate them. But it doesn't end there, because everyone who wakes up in this building has a supernatural power of their own. As incidents keep occurring, the player investigates and reasons toward a culprit, then faces the discussion that follows. In the real-time discussion part, the store text lays out three rules: the discussion auto-progresses, you have to spot the lies and contradictions hidden in the conversation, and you refute them by presenting the evidence you've gathered. Who is the mastermind, why were twelve people locked in here, and what are these powers, the store text asks, only those who see through to the truth survive; solve the two 'tricks,' mystery and superpower, at once. Made and self-published by the solo developer Akizuki Yume, whose only Steam listing is this game. Priced at ¥1,200 at a launch discount, it is Positive at 92 percent across 13 reviews (12 positive, 1 negative per Steam's own review API), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure. Steam's content descriptors carry a general mature-content flag, and the developer's own note, quoted here rather than softened, says this is a mystery visual novel centered on a death game, containing depictions of violence including blood, stabbing, blunt-force injuries, corpses and scenes depicting suicide, presented as part of the narrative; there is no mention of sexual content anywhere in that description. It supports Japanese only, and every one of its 13 reviews is in Japanese; not one is in English.
Give it your first passDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc The origin
The origin of this taste: Danganronpa, the Spike Chunsoft game that established the real-time debate, where dialogue keeps moving whether you're ready or not and you interrupt a lie with the exact evidence that disproves it. Trick × Trick is not an official Danganronpa work, and this lineage is a comparison this site draws from what its own Japanese players say, several reviewing it explicitly as a Danganronpa-style mystery ADV; the shared idea carries forward with its own layer added, twelve characters each holding a supernatural power that complicates what 'evidence' even means.
Give it your first pass04Make this gem shine
If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.
You gave it your pass. The gem just caught the light.
05The bloodline of this taste
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Root
- Trick × Trick You are here
- Read-and-build games another taste