Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

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A boy found dead under a smiling paper bag, like the victims of an urban legend.

Platforms: Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Metacritic 74 from critics and 8.3 from users; Vooks and Nintendo Insider gave it 100, with praise for its story and chilling moments
Players: 1
Made by: Nintendo
Released: 2024

What frightens A student is found dead with a paper bag over his head bearing a drawn smiling face, just like the victims of Emio, the Smiling Man, a killer of urban legend tied to unsolved murders 18 years ago; the case moves through eerie crime scenes, close-ups and the killer's promise of a smile that will last forever.
Content: murder and death of young people, violence.

Emio – The Smiling Man is a Nintendo Switch mystery visual novel from Nintendo. As an assistant at the Utsugi Detective Agency you help police with the murder of a student found with a smiling paper bag over his head, the mark of an urban-legend killer from murders 18 years ago.

About Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is the third game in Nintendo's Famicom Detective Club series and the first new one in more than thirty years, released on Switch in August 2024 with Yoshio Sakamoto back on the series. It is rated M in the US.

A student has been found dead with a paper bag over his head, a smiling face drawn on it. That is the mark of Emio, the Smiling Man: a figure from a local urban legend who promises a smile that lasts forever, and the name given to a run of unsolved murders 18 years ago. As the agency's young assistant, and in some chapters as your partner Ayumi Tachibana, you work with the police to learn whether the killer has returned, whether this is a copycat, and whether the legend came before the murders or after them.

It plays as a classic adventure visual novel. You choose commands from a menu (ask, listen, look, examine, call, think), question witnesses and suspects, and review your notes to draw the right conclusions. Most of the time is spent reading voiced dialogue over detailed anime-style scenes.

The horror is in its tone more than in shocks: the paper-bag face, quiet crime scenes and sudden close-ups. Critics liked the story, the presentation and its final chapter; several found the pacing slow and the deduction thin. It suits readers of mystery visual novels who want a darker case, and players of Spirit Hunter or PARANORMASIGHT who like urban legends with a murder at their centre.

How to play Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Buy it on the Nintendo eShop or as a boxed Switch game; a free demo is on the eShop.
Read the opening at the crime scene and meet the detectives on the case.
Pick commands from the menu: ask about each topic, look at and examine what is around you.
Use Think and your notes to put the facts together when the story asks you to.
Repeat questions or examine again when the story stalls; something new often opens up.

Screenshots

A close-up of a staring eye reflecting a paper-bag face, with the line: After all, I can give you a smile that will last forever

A crime scene photo of a victim with a smiling paper bag over his head, shown in the detective agency office

Two detectives at a fenced lot beside the command menu: Call, Ask, Look, Think

Tips

When you are stuck, go through every command and topic again; the game often wants a question asked twice.
Read the notes after each chapter; the later deductions ask for names and details from them.
Play the demo first if you are unsure about the slow, text-heavy pace.

Questions

Is Emio – The Smiling Man a horror game?

It is a murder mystery visual novel with a horror tone: an urban-legend killer, unsettling crime scenes and sudden eerie scenes, rated M. It relies on dread more than jumpscares.

Do I need to play the earlier Famicom Detective Club games first?

No. The case stands on its own, though returning characters come from the two earlier games, which are also on Switch.

Is Emio – The Smiling Man on PC?

No. It is a Nintendo Switch game.