SEGA surprised everyone on Friday by stealth dropping a new Sonic game just in time for April 1st. Despite it not being a traditional Sonic title, it’s packed with a lot of charm to make up for it. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is SEGA’s latest entry in the Sonic franchise, a point-and-click/visual novel where players are tasked to solve the titular character’s murder, and it is completely free to play. Interestingly enough this is not a Sonic Team title, meaning that this is another Sonic fan project that SEGA orchestrated, and so far it’s going great.

The Sonic Social team proudly presents: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog!

A brand new Sonic game. Available right now. On Steam. For FREE! pic.twitter.com/qOsvdwCU2b

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) March 31, 2023

Set during a murder mystery themed birthday party for Amy Rose on the Mirage Express, Sonic the Hedgehog becomes the very real victim of a crime, which sets off a rush to find the culprit. Joined by all your favorite characters in the Sonic franchise, players will have to immerse themselves as a new character on their first day working on the Mirage Express, and interrogate their way towards finding the truth. It should be noted that SEGA confirmed that the game’s events are not canon, so our blue hedgehog is alive and safe within the main franchise.

That said, the visual novel’s Steam page reviews have been locked at Very Positive despite only just going live. Many fans took to Twitter to share their excitement and happiness at seeing another officially published fan game by SEGA. They all hope that the game developer will continue collaborating with fans in the future.

Bro I’m seeing so many fans saying they worked on Murder Of Sonic Game😭‼️

NEED Sega to continue to embrace fans working on smaller spin-off projects and make them official releases

IT JUST MAKES SENSE.

— GamesCage – Hype Guy (@OnTheDownLoTho) March 31, 2023

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is already looking like another fan project success from SEGA similar to but in no way as big of a scope as the widely renowned Sonic Mania. The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog is completely free to play on Mac and PC through Steam.