--- title: "Manhunt variations: 9 game ideas to try" description: "Nine ways to play manhunt: infection, night manhunt, cops and robbers, one runner against everyone, all-day games and more, with setup tips." url: "https://www.hunting-game.com/manhunt-game-ideas" lang: "en" author: "Jasper Aelvoet" updated: "2026-11-07" --- # Manhunt variations and game ideas A manhunt variation changes one rule of the basic game: who chases, when you play, how long the game lasts or what the runners have to do. Each of the nine below ends with the Hunting Game settings to play it. These are general ideas, not a check of your area. You choose where and how you play, so you're responsible for your own safety and for following the law. GPS can be wrong or late, and Hunting Game is not a navigation, safety or emergency service. The safety basics are in [the manhunt rules](https://www.hunting-game.com/how-to-play-manhunt-in-real-life#safety-and-house-rules). New to manhunt? Start with [the basic manhunt rules](https://www.hunting-game.com/how-to-play-manhunt-in-real-life), then come back here once your group has played a round or two. ## Infection manhunt Also called zombie manhunt. The chasing team grows with every catch, so the game speeds up toward the end, and the last few runners end up chased by almost everyone. - Start with one or two chasers, whatever the group size. - Every caught runner switches sides straight away and starts chasing. - The runners win as a team if anyone is still free when time runs out. The last one standing gets the bragging rights. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** in the lobby, turn on "Caught runners become chasers". With random teams, the app then starts with fewer chasers, because the pack grows on its own. ## Night manhunt Night manhunt is for adults. Under 18? Don't play after dark (our Terms ask this). For a younger group, play the same game in the late afternoon and finish before it gets dark. - Make the area about half the size you'd use in daylight, with no roads inside it or along its edge. - Everyone carries a flashlight and wears something reflective. Runners turn their screen brightness down, because a lit phone gives away a hiding spot. - Agree on a stop word and a well-lit meeting point, and count everyone in at the end. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** set location updates to every 1 minute or 30 seconds, since chasers can't see far in the dark. A 30-minute game is plenty. With Pro, draw a tight play zone, so anyone who wanders out gets a warning (and an alarm, if notifications are on) and has 30 seconds to get back. ## Cops and robbers The cops chase and the robbers run. A caught robber is out for the rest of the round and keeps watching the game, so play short rounds and swap sides, and everyone gets a turn as a cop. - Play rounds of 15 minutes. - Swap the cops and the robbers after every round. - The side that wins the most rounds wins the night. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** the cops are the chasers and the robbers are the runners. Put everyone in their team by hand in the lobby and pick a 15-minute game. After each round, the host taps Play again on the end screen, and in the new lobby the host swaps the teams. ## One runner against everyone One player runs and the whole group hunts them. It suits a birthday, or a group with one player who's much faster than the rest, and it takes ten seconds to explain. - One runner, everyone else chases. - Give the runner a longer head start than usual, like 5 minutes. - Keep it short, 15 to 30 minutes. The runner wins by staying free until the end. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** put one player in the runners by hand in the lobby. Set location updates to every 5 minutes, which keeps the game fair against a big team, and give a 5-minute head start. To give the runner a real chance, let runners see a map with the chasers on it. ## Fugitive The runners are fugitives who have to cross the area and reach a base at the far end, while the chasers patrol the space in between. - The runners start together at one end, and the base is at the other end. - The chasers start in the middle after the head start and try to catch the runners on their way across. - A runner who reaches the base can't be caught for the rest of the game. **Never with cars or bikes on roads.** Fugitive is played on foot only, by everyone, chasers included. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** play Manhunt with a 30-minute or 1-hour game. The app doesn't know where the base is, so make it a house rule: a runner who gets there says so in the game chat, and nobody may catch them there. ## All-day manhunt The game runs in the background of a whole day, at a camp, on a trip or around a weekend at someone's house. Runners have to stay free while everyone gets on with other things. - Agree on no-play times, like meals, classes or work. With anyone under 18 in the game, after dark is a no-play time too. - Agree on no-catch zones, like the dining hall or the bathrooms. - Use a big area and only a few chasers, so a runner can get through the day without hiding the whole time. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** set your own game length, up to 48 hours. Use longer location updates, like every 5 minutes or your own interval. The app can't pause a game, so during no-play times everyone simply agrees not to chase or catch, and location keeps being shared the whole game. With players under 18, set the length so the game ends before dark. ## Rounds with random teams Instead of one long game, play three short rounds with new teams every time. Nobody gets stuck on a weak team, and everyone gets to chase and run. - Play three rounds of 15 minutes each. - Deal new teams at random before every round. - Each player gets a point for every round their team wins. The most points after three rounds wins the night. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** in the lobby, switch on Random teams, so the app picks the teams when the game starts. At the end of each round, the host taps Play again on the end screen to start a new game with the same settings, and the others join it. ## Pure manhunt Pure manhunt leaves the power-ups out, so the game is only running and reading the map. It's the easiest way to play a first game, and some competitive groups prefer it for good. - The chasers only know what the location updates tell them. - The runners only have their compass. - Nobody can buy their way out of a tight spot. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** in the lobby, set power-ups to Off. Keep the default updates every 2 minutes and the default compass for runners, which points at every chaser and shows how far away they are. ## Hide and seek with a shrinking zone This one turns the game around. The runners hide instead of run, the chasers search without any locations, and the play zone gets smaller as the game goes on, so the best hiding spots end up outside it. - The hiders get a head start to hide inside the zone. - The seekers search with no locations at all, only their own eyes. - Anyone left outside the shrinking zone has to move back in, which breaks their cover. **Set it up in Hunting Game:** pick Hide and Seek mode, which needs Pro for the host only. Draw the play zone, choose how small it gets, and pick 10, 20 or 30 minutes or 1 hour. The full guide is [hide and seek in real life](https://www.hunting-game.com/hide-and-seek-in-real-life). ## Questions ### What is infection manhunt? It's manhunt where every caught runner joins the chasers, so the chasing team grows until nobody is left or time runs out. It's also called zombie manhunt. In Hunting Game, the setting is called "Caught runners become chasers". ### Which variation is best for a big group? Infection manhunt and rounds with random teams both keep everyone busy, because nobody sits out for long. For groups of more than 4 players in the app, the host needs Pro. Read [manhunt for groups](https://www.hunting-game.com/manhunt-for-groups) for a full session plan. ### How do you make manhunt harder for the chasers? Make the location updates less frequent, give a longer head start, or let runners see more, such as the map with the chasers on it. Do the opposite to help the chasers. Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.