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Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club Comes to Switch This Summer
A Modern Whodunit

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club Comes to Switch This Summer

Emio-TheSmilingMan:FamicomDetectiveClubComestoSwitchThisSummer

The narrative murder mystery game is the first new installment in the Famicom Detective Club series in 35 years.

Posted 4 months ago

Back in 2021, Nintendo released Switch remakes of the two original games in the Famicom Detective Club series: The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind. Now, following a creepy social media teaser, the house of Mario revealed a brand new game in the crime mystery franchise: Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club.

The first new game in the Famicom Detective Club franchise in 35 years, Emio - The Smiling Man will task players with solving a student’s murder as an assistant private investigator at Utsugi Detective Agency. To solve the case, players will be asked to investigate clues and interview key characters.

Evidence picture of a murder victim with a paper bag decorated with a smiling face on his head. Text at bottom reads "Victims found with paper bags on their heads?"

©Nintendo

A Nintendo press release provides an intriguing preview of the game’s story:

“In Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, a student has been found dead in a chilling fashion, his head covered with a paper bag with an eerie smiling face drawn on it. This unsettling visage bears a striking resemblance to a recurring clue in a string of unsolved murders from 18 years ago, as well as Emio (the Smiling Man), a killer of urban legend who is said to grant his victims “a smile that will last forever.”

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club will hit Switch on August 29. While we wait for the game’s release, check out this video to learn more about the game’s development from series producer and writer Yoshio Sakamoto.