Trick × Trick, the supernatural mystery adventure created by solo developer Akizuki Yume, has opened well above its creator's financial expectations. Less than a day after the game's Japanese launch on August 15, Akizuki said its early sales had already reached a level above the project's development costs.
The PC title traps 12 high school students inside a mysterious building, gives each of them a supernatural ability, and forces them into a death game built around investigation, voting, assassination, and real-time debates.
Quick Summary
- Title: Trick × Trick
- Japanese styling: Trick × Trick（トリック トリック）
- Format: Video game
- Genre: Mystery adventure / visual novel
- Theme: Supernatural × mystery × death game
- Developer: Akizuki Yume
- Publisher: Akizuki Yume
- Status: Released
- Official Japanese launch: August 15, 2026
- Launch time: 12:00 p.m. JST
- Platform: PC via Steam
- OS: Windows
- Mode: Single-player
- Early milestone: Development costs surpassed in less than one day, according to the creator
- Unit sales: Not disclosed
- Development budget: Not disclosed
- Net profit: Not disclosed
- Premise: 12 students awaken inside a mysterious building
- Objective: Identify the mastermind who imprisoned them
- Escape condition: Expose the mastermind through voting or assassinate them
- Wrong vote: The accused student is executed
- Supernatural abilities: Every student awakens with a different power
- Structure: Daily life, incidents, investigation, and trial/discussion
- Investigation: Collect evidence from crime scenes and related areas
- Discussion: Progresses automatically in real time
- Player task: Spot lies and contradictions, then present matching evidence
- Main student cast: 12
- Protagonist: Tsuguto Amami
- Tsuguto's ability: Minority
- Scenario length: More than 200,000 Japanese characters
- Official clear-time estimate: Around 15 hours
- Opening theme: “Brand New Blood” by Ageha Kocho
- Ending theme: “Elegy of You” by Kumabachi Ema
- Usapon voice: Omaru Polka
- Voice audition: Roughly 3,000 applications
- Supported language: Japanese
- English: Not supported
- Family Sharing: Supported
- U.S. launch price: US$10.39
- U.S. regular price: US$12.99
- Introductory discount: 20%
- Offer ends: August 28, 2026
- Minimum RAM: 4 GB
- Minimum storage: 4 GB
- Sensitive content: Blood, stabbing, blunt-force injuries, corpses, and suicide-related scenes
- Streaming: Full-game streaming including OP and ED is permitted under chapter and spoiler rules
Sales Milestone, Trailer, Steam, and Gameplay
The Game Cleared Its Development-Cost Threshold in Under a Day
On August 16, Akizuki Yume shared an update saying Trick × Trick had already attracted enough players for its early commercial performance to surpass the game's development costs in less than one day.
The milestone mattered personally because Akizuki said there had been genuine uncertainty over whether those costs would be recovered at all.
No sales figure or development budget was provided, however.
That means the announcement should not be converted into an estimated number of copies sold, nor should it be interpreted as a published net-profit figure after Valve's revenue share, taxes, refunds, or continuing expenses.
What it does establish is that the launch substantially outperformed the creator's own break-even concerns almost immediately.
Twelve Superpowered Students Are Forced Into a Death Game
The story begins with the protagonist and 11 other high school students awakening inside an unfamiliar building.
Their instruction is simple in wording and brutal in practice: find the mastermind responsible for imprisoning everyone.
The group may expose that person through a vote, but an incorrect accusation causes the selected student to be executed. The other escape route is to identify and assassinate the mastermind directly.
Then comes another complication: every student has awakened with a different supernatural ability.
These powers are not merely flashy character traits. Trick × Trick builds its mysteries around the possibility that an ability may either help explain a crime or become part of the trick that misleads everyone investigating it.
Investigation Leads Into Real-Time Debate
The game follows a repeating narrative structure as incidents unfold.
During daily-life sections, players interact with the other trapped students and learn more about their personalities and relationships.
Once an incident occurs, the game shifts toward investigation. Evidence is collected from crime scenes and relevant areas before the case moves into its discussion phase.
The standout mechanic is that the discussion progresses automatically in real time.
Players need to identify lies or contradictions while the conversation is moving and then present the piece of evidence capable of refuting the statement.
The challenge is therefore not limited to knowing the answer. Players also need to recognize where their evidence fits into an active argument.
More Than 200,000 Characters of Scenario Text
Trick × Trick carries a relatively large amount of story content for an individually developed mystery title.
Launch material lists more than 200,000 Japanese characters of scenario text and an estimated completion time of around 15 hours.
After launch, Akizuki also commented on early completion reports, observing that especially fast readers appear able to finish the game in roughly seven to eight hours.
Actual playtime will naturally depend on reading speed, exploration, and how quickly a player works through the investigations.
The game also includes dedicated opening and ending songs. “Brand New Blood” is performed by Ageha Kocho, while the ending “Elegy of You” is performed by Kumabachi Ema.
Around 3,000 Applications Were Submitted for the Voice Audition
Voice production was another unusually large component of the project.
Akizuki Yume held an anonymous audition that attracted approximately 3,000 applications, with the final performers selected through an evaluation and voting process.
Protagonist Tsuguto Amami is voiced by Koyori Nohana, with separate performers attached to each of the other students.
The mascot Usapon is voiced by hololive's Omaru Polka.
The official site also lists supporting performers, while several roles remain intentionally labeled “???” to avoid revealing information tied to the mystery.
Japanese Is the Only Supported Language for Now
The current Steam release supports Japanese interface text and subtitles only.
English is not supported at launch.
The official website says additional languages are under consideration, but no specific localization has been confirmed.
No console or mobile editions have been announced either.
In the United States, the game normally costs US$12.99 and is currently available for US$10.39 during its 20% introductory sale through August 28.
Full-Game Streaming Is Allowed, With a Chapter Delay Rule
Akizuki has published dedicated streaming and fan-content guidelines.
Creators may stream the entire game, including its opening and ending, and standard monetization through YouTube, Twitch, Niconico, TikTok, donations, and memberships is permitted.
Because the mystery depends heavily on spoilers, there is one unusual progression rule: after completing a chapter on stream, creators must wait three days before streaming the next chapter.
If Chapter 1 is completed on August 15, for example, Chapter 2 may be streamed from August 19 onward.
Creators are also asked to keep major spoilers—culprits, endings, major deaths, and similar reveals—out of thumbnails, titles, opening segments, and automatically playing short-form videos.
Why This Matters
1) A solo-developed project crossed its cost threshold almost immediately
Akizuki had been unsure whether the game would recover its development spending at all, making the first-day result particularly significant for the project.
2) Supernatural powers are part of the mysteries themselves
Abilities can influence the logic behind incidents and tricks rather than functioning only as character flavor.
3) Real-time discussion changes how evidence is used
Players need to recognize contradictions while the conversation continues instead of treating every debate as a sequence of static menu choices.
4) Its production scope is substantial for an individual project
A 200,000-plus-character script, roughly 15 hours of content, a large cast, original opening and ending songs, and around 3,000 voice-audition applications give the project considerable scale.
Game Information
Additional confirmed information includes:
- Trick × Trick is developed and published by Akizuki Yume
- the official Japanese release date is August 15, 2026
- launch time was 12:00 p.m. JST
- some Steam storefronts may display August 14 because of storefront/time-zone metadata
- SteamDB records the release activation on August 15 at 02:50 UTC
- the current platform is Windows PC via Steam
- the official genre is mystery adventure
- single-player and Steam Family Sharing are supported
- the death game features 12 students
- every student has a different supernatural ability
- gameplay rotates through daily life, incidents, investigation, and real-time discussion
- the scenario contains more than 200,000 Japanese characters
- the official completion estimate is around 15 hours
- fast early players have reported roughly seven to eight hours
- approximately 3,000 voice-audition applications were received
- Usapon is voiced by Omaru Polka
- the opening theme is “Brand New Blood”
- the ending theme is “Elegy of You”
- Japanese is the only currently supported language
- additional languages remain under consideration
- the U.S. introductory price is US$10.39
- the 20% introductory discount ends August 28
- minimum OS is Windows 10 64-bit
- minimum processor is Intel Core i3 or equivalent
- minimum memory is 4 GB RAM
- DirectX 11 is required
- minimum storage is 4 GB
- mature-content disclosure includes violence, blood, stabbing, blunt-force injuries, corpses, and suicide-related scenes
- full-game streaming is permitted subject to chapter-delay and spoiler rules
- official information is available through the Trick × Trick website
- the game is available through Trick × Trick on Steam
- creator guidelines are available through the official streaming guidelines
- development updates are posted through Akizuki Yume on X
- game-specific announcements are also posted through Trick × Trick Official on X
Closing
Trick × Trick has opened on Steam with a commercial result that surpassed its creator's own expectations. Less than a day after its August 15 Japanese launch, Akizuki Yume said the game's early performance had already exceeded its development costs.
Behind that milestone is a roughly 15-hour supernatural death-game mystery built around 12 students, evidence gathering, and real-time discussions. The game currently supports Japanese only and remains 20% off through August 28, 2026.
- Akizuki Yume Official X — Development Cost Milestone Less Than One Day After Release
- Akizuki Yume Official X — Official Steam Launch, Price, Discount, and Streaming Information
- Trick × Trick Official Website — Story, Characters, Gameplay Systems, Cast, Music, and Specifications
- Steam — Official Store Page, Features, Language, Mature Content, and System Requirements
- Trick × Trick Streaming Guidelines — Full-Game Streaming, Chapter Waiting Period, Spoiler Rules, and Monetization
- Famitsu — Japanese Launch, 200,000-Character Scenario, 15-Hour Playtime, Voice Audition, and Release Price
- SteamDB — Release Timestamp and Regional Steam Pricing
