Rules and setup
How to play manhunt in real life with phones
Here, manhunt means the outdoor chase game: friends divide into hunters and runners, agree on a play area, and try to catch or escape one another before time runs out. Hunting Game handles the teams, timer, GPS updates, compass, and catches.
What you need
- At least two players: one hunter and one runner.
- An iPhone or Android phone for each player, with GPS and mobile data available.
- A familiar outdoor area with a clear boundary and a safe place to meet afterwards.
- Enough battery for the full game, plus extra time in case someone takes a wrong turn.
Free matches support up to four players. Hunting Game Pro raises the limit to 20 and adds Hide and Seek.
Set up the game
- 1. Create a private game. One person signs in, creates the lobby, and shares the join code with the group.
- 2. Assign the roles. Every match needs at least one hunter and one runner. Family mode can also include a Supervisor who sees everyone on the map.
- 3. Draw the play area. Keep busy roads, railway lines, water, private property, construction, and other unsafe places outside the boundary.
- 4. Choose the timing. Set the game length and how often hunter maps receive runner positions. Longer intervals give runners more room to change direction.
- 5. Make everyone ready. Check that location access is on, mobile data works, and every person understands where the game ends and where the group will meet.
Rules for hunters and runners
Hunters
Follow the runner positions released to your map. When you reach a runner, ask for the arrest code on their phone and enter it in the app. You do not need physical contact to record the catch.
Runners
Stay inside the boundary and avoid the hunters until the timer ends. Your compass points toward nearby hunters, but it does not tell you which route they will take.
Hunters win by catching every runner before the end. In Standard mode, the runners win as a team if at least one runner remains free when time runs out.
Choose a mode
- Standard
- Hunters receive timed runner positions while runners use a hunter compass.
- Family
- Adds a Supervisor role with a live view of all players. The minimum age is 13.
- Hide and Seek
- Runners hide inside a defined zone, and hunters search without runner GPS updates. This mode requires Pro.
Use abilities deliberately
Abilities can hide or reveal information for a short time. Runners have Invisible and Map; hunters have Ping and Fake; both roles can use Blind. Agree before the game whether your group wants all abilities on or a simpler chase with fewer surprises.
Safety rules worth agreeing on first
- Play only with people you know and keep the join code inside the group.
- Obey traffic rules, stay out of private property, and stop rather than take an unsafe shortcut.
- Do not use the app as a navigation or emergency tool.
- Pause the game if someone is hurt, lost, uncomfortable, or cannot be reached.
- For teenagers, involve a parent or guardian and use a familiar area.
What happens to your location
During an active game, location updates can continue when Hunting Game is in the background. Other players see locations according to their role. Anyone with the short join code can also watch names, avatars, and positions on the live spectator page without signing in, so treat that code as private.
Tracking stops outside an active game. Live locations, route history, and chat are deleted about five minutes after the game ends. The Privacy Policy explains the exact collection, sharing, and retention rules.
Ready to run a game?
Install Hunting Game, create a lobby, and share the join code with your group.