A gruesome crime unfolds on screen… Detective faces the “Witch” culprit in mystery ADV “TRIP MOVIE ■□■□/mosaic: The Murder of Young Alice” [TGS2026]

From Thursday, September 17, to Sunday, September 20, 2026, the “Tokyo Game Show 2026” (hereinafter “TGS2026”), celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was held at Makuhari Messe.

In this article, we’ll share our hands-on experience with one of the exhibited titles: *TRIP MOVIE ■□■□/mosaic: The Murder of Young Alice*, a game known for the striking contrast between its adorable visuals and its gruesome plot.

Created by psycho02—who gained popularity with free games like *Driito Poker!!* and *Mimamoro!*, both featuring cute young boys—this is a mystery adventure game where characters comfort each other through their wounds.

The setting is a movie theater. The protagonists of the film being screened are wholesome adults and children with bright futures ahead of them. Trapped in a Western-style mansion deep in the mountains, these protagonists—who have become murderers after a struggle with their desires and inner conflicts—face off against the player, who takes on the role of a detective within the story.When the truth is uncovered, the culprit transforms into a “witch”—the embodiment of their own desires—and will refute the accusations rather than admit to the crime. However, as the detective, the player must confront them head-on.

During this demo, I was able to play through the entire “Red Rose Murder Case,” which serves as a prequel to the main story! Even when selecting chapters, movie theater posters and tickets are displayed—which alone is enough to get me excited!

The protagonist of this story is Aoi Muraoka, a 22-year-old college student. While traveling alone, his car suddenly broke down. He barely made it to the “Ichijō Family” mansion deep in the mountains, where, thankfully, they fixed his car. Just as he was about to resume his journey… his car exploded!

Suspecting that someone might have been trying to kill him, Aoi returned to the Ichijō residence—only to find that everyone who had been there just moments before was dead, with the exception of two people. To solve the mystery of the murders that took place in just a few minutes, Aoi confronts the survivors, Ichijō Kiriya and Ichijō Kihana.

The first step is to “organize the information.” As he pieces together the details of the incident, he verifies the facts one by one and pursues the truth behind the crime.

Even when the truth is exposed, the culprit(s) won’t admit to their crimes. At that point, Aoi—using the special ability granted to him as the protagonist—transforms them into “witches,” and the game shifts into the “witch hunt” phase.

Besides the truth, what works against witches is having their “emotions they don’t want others to see” exposed. Why did they cause this incident in the first place…? We’ll continue to dig deeper for the truth.

However, during the witch hunt, if you choose the wrong option, you’ll be “denied” instead, and your mental strength will be depleted. The first person to reach 0 mental strength loses… Let’s corner them carefully, but surely.

Eventually, the witch whose mental strength reached zero resigned herself to her fate and confessed to the crime. Magic is something that brings warmth to the heart. Witches were born to grant wishes… Faced with the witch’s confession, Aoi-kun demands, “Give me the witch,” craving her power.

Soon, the movie’s end credits began to roll…

The scene shifted to a movie theater. There was a single audience member who seemed dissatisfied with the ending of the film being shown, *The Red Rose Murder Case*.

Just as I was thinking, “Oh, right, it is a movie theater…,” that audience member muttered something cryptic—“There’s no way a guy named Aoi Muraoka is in this movie”—and the demo ended.

A gruesome mystery unfolding among such charming characters… Even this demo—which serves as a prequel to the main story—was quite substantial. I’m already looking forward to seeing just how long the main story will be and what kind of tale it will unfold!

But still, who exactly is “Aoi Muraoka”?

“TRIP MOVIE ■□■□/mosaic: The Murder of Boy Alice” is scheduled for release on PC (Steam) in 2026.