Higurashi When They Cry (Japanese: ひぐらしのなく頃に, Hepburn: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni; lit. 'When the Cicadas Cry') is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the When They Cry franchise. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system.

In June 1983, Keiichi Maebara moves to the village of Hinamizawa (雛見沢) and befriends five girls: Rena Ryūgū, Rika Furude, Satoko Hōjō, and the Sonozaki twins. Keiichi learns of the village's annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration dedicated to the local deity Oyashiro. Hinamizawa initially seems calm and peaceful, but shortly before the festival, Keiichi learns that for four years in a row, murders and disappearances have taken place on the day of the festival. The answer arcs reveal that each preceding arc is an alternate reality in which Rika tries and fails to save herself and her friends. As a priestess of the Furude Shrine, Rika can communicate with the spirit Hanyū, who serves as the basis for Oyashiro and is the ancestress of the Furude clan. Each time Rika died, Hanyū would move her to another reality, but the end of her life is not retained in her memories when she transfers.

The theory by Miyo's adoptive grandfather, Hifumi Takano, is that if there is no Infection Queen, all villagers will succumb to the syndrome, and a mass outbreak of violence will occur. However, life in Hinamizawa goes on, showing that Hifumi's theories have been exaggerated. Miyo aims to vindicate Hifumi's work and force it to be recognized after he was shamed by the government and scientific community for his thesis about the disease. After several hundred loops, Keiichi becomes aware of the previous realities, allowing him to avoid several critical points where various characters would be murdered or driven insane. Eventually, Rika travels back to the past to prevent Miyo's suffering from the traumatic childhood that led her to become who she was.