It was another great year for Methods — the mobile version of the game is now fully released!

And thank you as always to the fanbase for the many, many fan-created works! Your enthusiasm inspires me to keep creating better and better works.

For this anniversary, I wanted to make sure I had some really big exciting news, so for the past several months, I've been working on a secret plan to make this happen, and I'm super excited to announce it here!




Keeping this a secret was pretty hard, but I was actually working on File 04 and File 05 simultaneously for the past several months! I'll have more details on how I pulled off this crazy scheme in an upcoming devlog, but for now — just know that File 05 is 95% complete.



We're just finishing up the Chinese translation before launching the beta on Afdian and Patreon. Because I moved up File 05's production, Hangout Four will actually be releasing afterwards, though I made sure to do a bit of work on it too so that it won't take too long for that to be released as well.







This time, Team Tads is going to Montebello — what intriguing mystery will await them there, and how will Tads lead them? Lots of surprises are in store!




Though I didn't have enough time to finish this before the anniversary, an update is in the works for Methods: The Detective Competition as well. For a long time, the biggest remaining regret I've had about the game is how you're forced to replay mysteries to proceed (at least for the first two Stages of the game — from the Third Stage onward it does away with that, fortunately). It can be frustrating, especially when the game is meant to be story-focused and not really trying to challenge the player.

So with this upcoming update, I'm going to be implementing a score screen. You will be able to proceed with the story even if you get a zero-star rating, without having to replay any sections. I think this will really help eliminate some annoyance, and it also makes it more fun to choose random dialog options that you want to see, rather than the answer you think is correct.

I hope you look forward to these big upcoming updates, and if you haven't gotten the game yet — it will be on sale starting now until May 1st at the lowest discount yet — 65% off! Enjoy ;)

Until next time!

— LockedOn & Erabit.

Attention, Detectives!

The Steam Visual Novel Festival is here, and both games in the Methods series—Methods: The Detective Competition and Methods: The Canada Files—are available at their lowest-ever discounts! Dive into a world where mind-bending mysteries collide with hilarious storytelling!



📌 Limited-Time Discounts
1️⃣ Methods: The Detective Competition

60% OFF | 100 detectives vs. criminal—unravel twisted cases for a million-dollar prize!

2️⃣ Methods: The Canada Files

30% OFF | Early Access available! enjoy free future updates leading to 6 full cases.

🕵️ Key Features

Double the Brain-Burning Fun

Comedy Meets Crime

Bonus Content: Original soundtracks, CG galleries, character profiles, and more!

→ Grab your deals:

Methods: The Detective Competition
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1271300/

Methods: The Canada Files
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2063530

"MTCF" all-member fridge magnets & 24-year limited Halloween posters are coming, limited-time pre-sale -

✅[TADS team character fridge magnets]
▫️ Price: 20 yuan/piece

✅[24-year Halloween limited poster] - This game host may not be human👻
▫️ Price: 18 yuan/piece

Pre-sale channel: February 28-March 31, click on the picture for more details!
↓ Click to send the pre-sale link, slow hands no warning!
https://weidian.com/?userid=1798795097

Methods: The Detective Competition has been fully ported to mobile now!

On mobile, Methods has been split into five games, each containing 20 chapters of the story.

Want a more convenient and relaxed way to experience this adventure? Click the links below:

Methods: Detective Competition
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods-detective-competition/id6467845950

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc1.paid.gp


Methods2: Secrets and Death
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods2-secrets-and-death/id6475326812

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc2.paid.gp


Methods 3: The Invisible Man
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods-3-the-invisible-man/id6502622226

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc3.paid.g


Methods 4: The Best Detective
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods-4-the-best-detective/id6651830371

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc4.paid.gp


Methods 5: The Last Stage
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods-5-the-last-stage/id6738909485

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc5.paid.gp

772 receives a nice present!



Nell does not enjoy her gift.

Happy Winter Holidays from Methods!

Enjoy and we hope you look forward to more in 2025!

— LockedOn & Erabit

Just for Halloween, here's some special illustrations of the Detective Game-masters in costume!



Greg as the Game-master Mug!



Clark as a Scarecrow!



Kane as a Cat!



Mellie as a Ghost!

Thanks for playing and we hope you're looking forward to the next year of Methods!

— LockedOn & Erabit

Bug fixes, typo fixes, minor plot holes fixed. More details below.

• Font changed for character names in English
  
• Autosaves restored (were previously inaccessible due to coding error)
  
• Text history in Interviews bug fixed
  
• Rankings in Chapter 5 synced properly with rank screen
  
• Ashdown and Woes rank in early Stages changed in rank screen to reflect story details
  
• Text history icon updated
  
• Placeholder slots showing up as question marks in Interviews fixed
  
• Added Wishlist MTCF button to main menu
  
• English typo fixes

🥳Good news for all Methods fans:

🤩Pre-Order for Methods 4: The Best Detective has been opened! The fourth part of Methods for mobile devices is coming soon!

👇Click here:

🍎App Store：
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/methods-4-the-best-detective/id6651830371


🤖Google Play：
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erabit.methods.tdc4.paid.gp

Time to follow the fourth-tier Detective Ashdown with his fellow detectives on the investigation of the mysterious killer!

Will they eventually find the murderer, or be kicked out of the competition first?

Dive in and find out!

App Store:

Google Play:

And the whole game has been split into five apps for the mobile release, with 'Methods 3: The Invisible Man' being the third part, and containing Chapters 43-60.

Enjoy, and until next time...!

— LockedOn & Erabit.

For the 13th Anniversary of LockedOn Games, here is a status update on ongoing and upcoming Methods-related projects!




I announced the Art of Methods a while ago. It's been a huge project. Even though I made some of the workload easier by publishing weekly posts about the characters on my Patreon/Afdian pages for several months, there were still a ton of characters I hadn't written about yet — and to be clear, this artbook covers every single character, including characters from the Vignettes. This artbook has much more than that though — I've written tons of new articles, revealing new details about the development process, my thoughts on each stage in the contest, each mystery, and more. It will be available as a free digital DLC to Methods on Steam and itch.io.


Erabit Studios is helping bring Methods to iOS and Android, splitting it into five games. So far we've released the third game, The Invisible Man. We will continue to release the rest of the game on mobile!


We are translating Methods into Japanese — and the Japanese version of the first twenty chapters is already available on mobile! The plan is to finish the translation of all the chapters on mobile first before implementing it into the PC version.




When I began developing MTCF, it was a less ambitious idea, however, it quickly evolved into a full-fledged game. As I've been writing it, I've come to realize that it is not a fun but optional entry in the Methods game series, but rather a crucial bridge between Methods and Motives. Motives does not make sense without it. Speaking of Motives...




I haven't talked too much about Motives since the 10th Anniversary announcement three (wow!) years ago. Thank you for your patience in waiting for it. I have a few new details I would like to share. It will be built in Unity, and features explorable 3D environments. This opens up exciting new possibilities in terms of investigating crime scenes. I'm designing new mystery-solving gameplay to accompany it which splits the difference in difficulty between MTDC and MTCF. MTUP's main priority is its story, just like MTDC, but I think it would be better if it was a little more challenging than simple multiple-choice. ;) With this game, the detectives attempt to answer the question: What is the ultimate problem? And like any question, the deeper you go, the harder it is to answer.

That's all the news I have for now! Here's to another year of games!

Until next time!

— LockedOn