--- title: "Manhunt rules: how to play in real life" description: "The rules of manhunt, step by step: teams, boundary, head start, catching and winning. Plus how to play it with phones, and safety tips." url: "https://www.hunting-game.com/how-to-play-manhunt-in-real-life" lang: "en" author: "Jasper Aelvoet" updated: "2026-11-07" --- # Manhunt rules: how to play manhunt in real life Manhunt is an outdoor chase game. One team, the chasers, tries to catch the other team, the runners, inside an agreed area before time runs out. With Hunting Game, everyone plays on their own phone: chasers see the runners on a map every few minutes, runners get a compass that points at the chasers, and a catch is a code typed into the app. ## The basic rules - Split into chasers and runners. About a third runners works well, and Random teams picks that for you. - Agree on the boundary and a meeting point before anyone moves. - Runners get a head start. Two minutes is the default. - Chasers see the runners on the map at each location update, every 2 minutes by default. In between, the runners keep moving. - A chaser catches a runner by typing the 4-digit catch code shown on the runner's phone. - A caught runner is out, or joins the chasers if the host turned on "Caught runners become chasers". - Chasers win if they catch everyone before time runs out. If even one runner is still free at the end, the runners win. ## How to play manhunt with Hunting Game 1. **The host makes a game** and shares the 5-digit join code. Everyone else types it in, on iPhone or Android. 2. **Pick a mode.** Manhunt and Family, which adds a referee, are free. Hide and Seek, where chasers never see the runners, needs Pro. 3. **Pick what runners see.** By default, a compass that points at every chaser and shows how far away they are. The host can make it harder (no distance, or nothing at all) or easier (a map, with or without the chasers). 4. **Agree on the boundary out loud.** Pick a place everyone knows, like a park, a campsite or a few quiet streets, and say where it ends: "From the fence to the pond, and nobody goes past the parking lot." With Pro, the host can also draw a play zone, a circle or any shape, that can shrink. Anyone who leaves it gets a warning on screen (and an alarm, if notifications are on) and has 30 seconds to get back, or they're out. 5. **Everyone taps Ready**, the host sorts the teams or lets the app pick them, and starts the game. The runners get their head start. 6. **Catch runners with their code.** Every runner has a 4-digit catch code on their phone. The chaser reaches the runner and types it in. Chasers win by catching every runner; if any runner is still free when time runs out, the runners win. Play a short first round, about 30 minutes, so everyone learns the rules. Then swap who chases: the host taps Play again on the end screen to start a new game with the same settings, and everyone who played gets an invite, except anyone who was removed from the game. ### Settings at a glance - **Game length:** 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours, or your own length up to 48 hours. - **How often chasers see the runners:** every 30 seconds, 1, 2 (the default) or 5 minutes, or your own time. Shorter helps the chasers. - **Head start:** 2 minutes by default, anywhere from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. ### The five power-ups Players buy power-ups with coins they earn by playing. - **Scan** (chasers): instantly shows every runner's current position. - **Decoy** (chasers): runners see you at a spot you pick, for a while. - **Blackout** (chasers and runners): blocks the other team's screens for a while. - **Stealth** (runners): your team skips its next location share. - **Map** (runners): every runner sees everyone on the map, for a while. Most last 2 minutes unless the host picks another length. The host can also turn power-ups off. ## Safety and house rules You choose where and how you play, so you're responsible for your own safety and for following the law. Most arguments come from a rule nobody said out loud, so agree on these before the head start: - **Keep danger out of the area.** Busy roads, railway lines, water, building sites and private property stay outside the boundary. No hiding in cars, houses, shops, sheds or anyone's yard. - **Walk across roads.** Never run across one, even with a chaser right behind you. - **Catch with the code, not your hands.** No tackling, grabbing or tripping. A catch is final once the code is typed in. - **Pick a stop word.** Anyone who shouts it ends the game for everyone, no questions asked. - **Stay reachable.** Keep phones charged and on loud, and nobody leaves the game without telling someone. - **Don't count on the map.** GPS can be wrong or late. Hunting Game is not a navigation, safety or emergency service. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. - **Under 18?** Agree with a parent or guardian where and when you play, and don't play alone or after dark. Hunting Game is for ages 13 and up. Running a game for teenagers? Read [the guide for parents](https://www.hunting-game.com/parents) first. ## Manhunt, hide and seek and tag: what's the difference? People use the three names loosely, and every group plays a little differently. Usually: - **Manhunt:** two teams. Runners keep moving through a park or a neighborhood, for 30 minutes to a few hours. - **Hide and seek:** hiders pick one spot and stay still. The area is small, and a round takes a few minutes. - **Tag:** one person is "it" and chases until they tag someone. There are no teams. Hunting Game has a Manhunt mode and a Hide and Seek mode, so you can play either. ## How big an area, and how long? Walking time from one side to the other is easier to judge on the spot than meters. Start here and adjust after the first round: - **2 to 4 players:** a big park or a few blocks, about 10 minutes' walk across. Play 15 to 30 minutes. - **5 to 15 players:** a neighborhood, 10 to 15 minutes across. Play 30 to 60 minutes. - **16 and up:** a district or a campus, up to 20 minutes across. Play 1 to 2 hours. Games of more than 4 players need Pro for the host. If the chasers catch everyone in the first ten minutes, make the area bigger or the head start longer. If nobody gets caught, shrink the area, add a chaser or make the location updates more frequent. ## What happens to your location Your location is shared from when you tap Ready (or make the game) until the game ends for you, with the players in your game, as their role and the settings allow. In the lobby, only the host sees it. Anyone with the join code can also watch the game on our website. It shows no positions before the head start ends and none in Hide and Seek. After that, it shows each team only as the other team sees it: runners where the chasers last saw them, and chasers when the runners can see them. So share the code only with your players. To stop people from trying codes at random on our website, it stops taking codes from an internet connection for up to 10 minutes after too many wrong ones. During a game, the app keeps sending your position while it's in the background, and your phone shows that it's doing so. Live positions and routes are deleted about 5 minutes after the game ends, and chat within about 10 minutes. The [Privacy Policy](https://www.hunting-game.com/privacy-policy) has the full detail. ## Questions ### How many people do you need for manhunt? Two: one chaser and one runner. With two or three players, keep the area small and the game short, around 15 minutes; with three, two chasers against one runner is usually fairer. It gets more interesting from about five or six. Hunting Game is free for up to 4 players, referees included, and the host can run games of up to 100 players with Pro. ### How long is a game of manhunt? Most games last 30 to 60 minutes, plus a head start of about 2 minutes. In Hunting Game you can pick 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours, or your own length up to 48 hours. In a big area, give the runners a longer head start, up to 5 minutes. Play a short first round so everyone learns the rules. ### Is manhunt the same as hide and seek? Not quite. In hide and seek, hiders pick a spot and stay still. In manhunt, runners keep moving, the area is bigger and there are two teams. Hunting Game has both: Manhunt mode, and a Hide and Seek mode with a shrinking play zone, which needs Pro. More in [hide and seek in real life](https://www.hunting-game.com/hide-and-seek-in-real-life). ### Is there an app for manhunt? Yes. Hunting Game is a manhunt app for iPhone and Android. It shows the chasers where the runners are at timed updates, gives the runners a compass, and records catches with a code. It's free for up to 4 players. Only the host needs Pro for bigger games; everyone who joins plays free. ### Can kids play manhunt? Manhunt is a running game, so there's always some risk. An adult should pick the area and agree on the rules: a place the kids know, no roads or water inside the boundary, a meeting point and a stop word. Hunting Game, the app, is for ages 13 and up. The [guide for parents](https://www.hunting-game.com/parents) explains who can see a player's location. ### Can you play manhunt at night? Not if you're under 18: our Terms ask players under 18 not to play after dark. Adults can. Make the area smaller than in daylight, bring a flashlight, wear something reflective and stay well away from roads. There's a full setup for [night manhunt](https://www.hunting-game.com/manhunt-game-ideas#night-manhunt) on the game ideas page.