Methods: The Illusion Murders

Methods: The Illusion Murders

LockedOn Games · April 22, 2024 · Interactive Fiction, Visual Novel, Puzzle, Female Protagonist, RPG

Methods: The Illusion Murders is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Very Positive86% · 105
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Screenshots

Methods: The Illusion Murders price

Methods: The Illusion Murders is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Methods: The Illusion Murders

✦ AI summary

Methods: The Illusion Murders is a mystery visual novel where you investigate serial murders patterned after optical illusions alongside detective Red July, whose signature crime-solving ability mysteriously fails. Solve cases by examining evidence through interactive puzzle mini-games in a story that dynamically shifts based on your choices, all set in a richly detailed world with original artwork and soundtrack.

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.

Methods: The Illusion Murders — game info

Platforms
Windows, macOS, Linux / SteamOS
Steam Deck
Playable
Player modes
Single-player
PC Game Pass
Not included
More games like this:Mac gamesLinux games

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Methods: The Illusion Murders is a visual novel with an engaging murder mystery story that some players find entertaining, but it suffers from a lack of actual detective work or meaningful puzzle-solving since the plot largely resolves itself. Players are divided on the experience: some appreciate the narrative and recommend it, while others criticize the writing quality, lack of gameplay mechanics beyond clicking through dialogue, and the absence of player agency in solving the case, making it feel more like reading an interactive story than playing a detective game.

Recommended Jul 6, 2025
good story line enjoyable and would recommend
3 found this helpful
Not recommended Nov 19, 2025
Disappointingly, there is no real detection (or thinking) needed. The plot resolves itself. The only puzzle you solve has no bearing on the case - it's a red herring.
2 found this helpful
Not recommended Nov 30, 2025
"Methods: The Illusion Murders" is not a game, it's an e-book that's been dumped on Steam masquerading as a game. As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay, it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, "How did something this badly written end up on Steam?". When someone hoping to become an author is unable to get published in print, they spend $100 and dump their high school fan-fiction onto Steam, under the guise of a game. At least we are spared the default topic that most Steam e-book fan-fictions carry, which is all about the author and his imaginary anime girlfriend. This fan-fiction, instead, is all about a really badly written murder mystery. The writing is still incredibly cringey. This e-book isn't that linear and works more as a Choose Your Own Adventure, but the point still stands... nobody read a CYOA book and then said "Wow, what a great game I just played." Books aren't games. This was slapped together with the godawful Ren'Py visual novel construction kit... enabling terrible authors to publish books as if they were games when oth…
1 found this helpful
Recommended Mar 19, 2025
Speaking only for the ease of the achievements, I would recommend this game.
1 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 29, 2026
7/10 Nice case, it lacks from so many evidence to let you roleplay the detective instead of just watching the case solving on it own
Recommended Mar 4, 2026
Pretty solid little mystery, really gotta play more of this series.

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