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Board Game Companies Reveal When They Cry 'Murder Mystery' Game Project

Board game company Studio Ozon announced on Thursday that it is collaborating with board game cafe Joldeeno to create a "murder mystery" game based on the Higurashi: When They Cry and Umineko When They Cry franchises.

The murder mystery genre of board games task players with finding clues to solve a mystery, perhaps best shown in the board game Cluedo. The genre eventually spawned the related genre of hidden identity/social deduction games, where one or more of a minority of players in a group secretly collaborate to achieve a goal while hiding their identity, and a majority of players must ferret out to the identity of the traitors before that goal is achieved. This is perhaps best shown in the part game Mafia or Werewolf, the boar game The Resistance/Avalon, or the video game Among Us.

While in English, both genres are clearly delineated, Japanese board game communities often use the term "murder mystery" to encompass both genres (though sometimes also using the genericized term "werewolf" to only refer to the hidden identity/social deduction variant).

Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion developed the Higurashi: When They Cry, Umineko When They Cry, and Ciconia When They Cry visual novels, which are all have different settings, characters, and themes, but share a general theme of mystery and murder. The first two have inspired their respective anime and manga adaptations. Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU (also known as Higurashi: When They Cry - New), the new Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) anime project, premiered in October.

Sources: Studio Ozon's Twitter account, Joldeeno's website via Otakomu