If Found...

If Found... is a visual novel, wherein the player advances through scenes by erasing journal entries or images using their cursor or finger as the eraser. While the player in some scenes chooses the order to erase elements, such as different parts of a journal entry, and decides how quickly to erase, the game progresses linearly through scenes without deviation with the exception of a few choices in an epilogue chapter. The narrative is split between two interleaved stories, with alternating chapters: a science fiction story of a space explorer named Doctor Cassiopeia discovering a black hole that will destroy the Earth, and the journal entries following the story of Kasio, a student in Dublin returning to her hometown in Achill Island, Ireland for December 1993. Both stories take place over the course of four weeks.

The science fiction chapters of the story follow Doctor Cassiopeia as she journeys towards Planet X, only to discover a black hole that is rapidly expanding and will soon destroy the Earth. Cassiopeia investigates the black hole to try to find a way to stop it, assisted by occasional messages from an unknown source who names himself "Control". Cassiopeia discovers that the black hole is creating wormholes that she can use to jump to Earth ahead of the black hole, while Control finds that the black hole was created due to an image in the future sending a signal back in time. Control reveals his name to be McHugh, and tells her that when she makes it to Earth, they will have less than a day to make it to Ireland where the image sends the signal.

The journal chapters follow Kasio, a transgender woman who has just completed her master's degree at a university in Dublin and is returning to her hometown in Achill Island during December 1993. Kasio has a strained relationship with her older brother Fergal and her mother Brid, which she attributes both to the stress on the family after her father's death some years prior as well as her own inability to conform to the social norms of the islanders. After a fight with her mother over Kasio's feminine clothes and appearance, Kasio runs away. She meets a friend, Colum, who invites her to stay with him and the rest of his band in the abandoned, decrepit house that the band is squatting in.

The game was developed as the first game by Irish developer Dreamfeel. Studio director Llaura McGee was the lead writer and designer. It was published by Annapurna Interactive. Initial development on the game began in 2016.

McGee sent a proposed design for "a swashbuckling space opera starring cats" to artist Liadh Young, who responded with concept art, and the two began developing game concepts. McGee wanted to create a game with a team rather than as a small solo project like her previous games, but wanted to keep it focused on the strengths of the people involved, such as Young's comics art background, and began to build a small team. Some early concepts included an "anti-dating sim" or a game set in a "witch's academy" based around completing a diary through different tasks, but McGee and the other developers felt it was better to create a story and then let the game mechanics serve it to create a "complete experience". She was interested at the time with notebooks and marginalia, and the team focused on that idea for the game.

If Found... was nominated for the "Games for Impact Award" at The Game Awards 2020, for "Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game" at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and for "Outstanding Video Game" at the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards. An early short demo was exhibited in several events in 2016, winning awards for best Game Design, emerging talent, and the Grand Prix overall award at the Irish Design Awards in November.

Critics were largely positive towards the game, focusing primarily on the way the writing and artwork, combined with the act of erasing, formed an emotional connection with the player. Michael Higham of GameSpot praised the "stunning yet minimal" art style. Hirun Cryer of USGamer similarly described the art style as "brilliant", while Cameron Bald of Pocket Gamer praised both the art style and sound design for drawing in the player and Ellen Causey of GamesRadar+ said that the artwork and sound effects at times had her "transfixed". The erasing mechanic was also praised by reviewers, with USGamer's reviewer commenting on the way it allowed for transitions between scenes, while Nicole Carpenter of Polygon focused on how erasing connected the player to Kasio's story and caused the player to decide how fast to advance due to how the story was making them feel. CJ Andriessen of Destructoid said that the mechanic had a "profound effect" on them, forcing them to acknowledge that not only could they not change Kasio's past, they also had to erase the good with the bad.