The Murder of Sonic
the Hedgehog

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2023) is a narrative game where you investigate who killed Sonic at a murder mystery party. You talk to guests, uncover clues and find evidence of the murderer's identity, then make your case to everyone else. It's a humourous, tongue-in-cheek break from the traditional Sonic formula, but also stands out for considerable sincerity and fleshed-out characters.

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Released for free as an April Fool's Day joke by the Sonic social media team, you play a new staff member on the Mirage Express, a luxury train that hosts themed events. On your first day, Amy Rose hosts a murder-mystery party for the whole Sonic cast on the train. When Sonic is actually murdered, you join his best friend Tails and investigate the incident to uncover the truth.

Play is text-based and involves talking to the characters, asking them questions and selecting dialogue options to uncover clues that help you solve the mystery. To gather evidence, you play a minigame based on classic Sonic games, where you move between lanes as you run and collect coins, avoiding spikes and jumping over pitfalls. When you've got enough evidence to accuse someone, you make your case to everyone present.

The result is a game that's both a lighthearted, whimsical divergence from the classic running and jumping challenge of Sonic games and a sincere celebration of those same games and characters, giving each member of the cast deep characterisation and personality while offering an engaging, amusing, and entertaining story.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 9 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 9 months ago.