The game sets on June 1983 in a fictional rural area of Hinamizawa. The protagonist Keiichi Maebara moves to the rural area and befriends his new classmates. He’s active in the student body council. Mostly, their after-school club activities compose of a card and board games. Hinamizawa is a peaceful place for the protagonist. However, this tranquility was disrupted at the end of the annual Watanagashi Festival. He learns that every year, one person is murdered and another gone missing in the evening of the festival. He becomes confused with the series of events surrounding the said festival. In each story, he and his friends are paranoid, and crime is on the action. Usually, the crime involves the murder of around one of their own friends.