Hunt A Killer Game Review
No matter what brought you here, this is an in-depth Hunt A Killer game review so you can decide if it’s right for your game night – and it probably is!
Maybe you’ve seen ads for the game Hunt A Killer, maybe you are just looking for something new to do with an at home date night or game night with friends.
Spoiler alert: I love this game.
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A note about this review before we continue:
I was not paid to write this post. We purchased the game with our own money and I fell in love with it so much that I knew I just had to review it. Okay. That is all, continue on with your Hunt A Killer game review!
What is Hunt A Killer?
Hunt A Killer is a subscription box that is murder mystery themed.
Basically, a murder happens and a detective on the case asks you, a private investigator, for help solving the crime.
You’ll find out as this review goes on that I absolutely LOVE this game, and I couldn’t wait for our next box to arrive to keep playing. So, if you’re hooked already, just go ahead and check it out!
Click here to check out what the current story is and see if you have what it takes to solve the murder!
Is Hunt A Killer Any Good?
If you’re not looking to get into the nitty gritty details of how the game works and all the components of it, I’m going to give you my quick answer first…
Is Hunt A Killer any good? YES!!!
It’s so much fun! It’s a great stay at home date night idea AND it’s great for playing with a group of friends on game night. It’s honestly the perfect gift for the true crime aficionado in your life.
In general, it’s a super fun game to play, and the subscription model keeps it interesting and adds a little bit of suspense to it because you simply will be so excited for the next box of clues to show up!
How Does Hunt A Killer Work? ALL the details.
After signing up, you’ll receive a box once a month that has information you need to get you one step closer to solving the murder.
The boxes contain things like:
- A letter from the detective updating you on the case
- Police reports
- Witness statements
- Autopsy details
- Maps of the area
- Login credentials for accessing online information
- Evidence – various kinds of evidence and tools to help you inspect it.
You’ll also know who your suspects are after the first box.
I have to say, that when I first heard of the game and the concept, I thought it was super cool.
When we started opening our first box, I was REALLY impressed with both the quality of the items and the number of things you get in each box.
Not only do you get the items needed to help you solve the mystery, but they throw in other little things as well that just enhances the box being worth it. The little extras really make this mystery box stand out compared to others!
Check out this awesome map of the town where our murder took place! This really made things SO MUCH easier for us to see where different events took place.
I really wish we had made a crime board to go along with this, but that will definitely be something we do with the next season we play. I’ll update this post with how to create a crime board next time we play!
There is plenty of evidence included to back up your goal for the box, which is to eliminate one suspect using the tools and information you’ve been given. You’ll also obviously be able to use that information for future boxes as well.
As stated above, there is an online component to this that goes beyond the physical items you receive. The online part will have additional files and tools you can use.
In one of our boxes, we had to decode a cipher. Part of our online component had a tool to help us figure that out!
I’m going to be totally honest with you though. I didn’t realize there was a tool to help with decoding it, and I set to work the old fashioned way with paper and pencil to figure it out.
It wasn’t until I had almost decoded the whole thing that I realized there was a helpful tool. OH WELL, I had fun, I like figuring out those kinds of puzzles!
You also could get additional evidence in the online area. I imagine it’s different with every story!
In one of our boxes, we had to go online and listen to an audio file. It really is very, very cool!
So, you’ll get the box, read the instructions from the detective that responded to the scene, sort your evidence, and you can even make your own murder board or case board! Get into it!
After each box, you should be able to eliminate one suspect. To eliminate a suspect, you’ll login online and select who you feel confident you can eliminate.
If you get it wrong, you will get a brief explanation as to why that person can’t be eliminated. This is really nice because you won’t get to the end of the subscription and find out the killer was someone you eliminated after box one!
Click here to check out what the current story is and see if you have what it takes to solve the murder!
There are also forums and Facebook groups for specific boxes. In these, you can read posts from people who are on the same box, and you can also ask questions if you need help.
We had to do this with one of our boxes. We knew there was supposed to be a clue in one of the pieces of evidence, but we just could not find it.
People on the forum were great because they didn’t spoil the answer for us, but they did point us in the right direction and we were able to figure it out with just a little bit of guidance!
Hunt A Killer also has their own lingo for how they describe the progression of the boxes. Here’s how it works, for organizational purposes:
Each box is an “episode,” and all of the boxes (or, episodes) make up a story, or “season.” So it’s kind of like TV shows in a way. Each season has it’s own murder master, and each box of evidence you receive is an episode in that season.
For a 6 month subscription, you’ll be getting 6 episodes that all make up one season.
What if you have a few glasses of wine and finish the first episode the day you receive it?? Do you really have to wait an entire month for the next episode?!
NOPE!
You can login and have them ship your next box ASAP without having to wait another month! We had all of our next episodes sent as soon as we finished the previous one we received.
Seriously, we love the Hunt a Killer game. Like, so much.
How Many People Can Play Hunt A Killer?
Hunt A Killer recommends 1-6 players. We’ve only played with two (myself and my husband, it’s our go-to at home date night), and I think two works out really well!
You can definitely get a few friends and have monthly Hunt A Killer parties. You can even make them themed to go along with the story in your season!
The first season we did was themed around a class reunion for a graduating class of 1998. If we were doing this as game nights, I would have definitely been throwing 90s themed parties. I’d have a 90s soundtrack playing in the background and costumes optional!
Seriously, you can do so much with these things outside of the game play. The Hunt a Killer game itself is SO MUCH fun, and there’s a lot of extra things like that you can do when playing as a group!
How Much Does Hunt A Killer Cost?
I’m sure one of your biggest questions is how much does Hunt A Killer cost?
There are a few different subscription options for Hunt A Killer.
***Please note these prices are accurate at the time of publishing this post. Click here to check current pricing.***
The monthly subscription is $30 per month, plus shipping.
The most popular option is the 6 month subscription, which gives you a discount bringing each box to $27.50 and FREE shipping on US orders.
The best value is a 12 month subscription, which gives you more of a discount, bringing each box to $25 and FREE shipping on US orders.
Sometimes the 6 month and 12 month subscriptions come with little extras, too!
Hunt A Killer Cost: What’s the best option?
To start out, I’d highly recommend the 6 month subscription. That way, you’ll be able to play through a full season / story, and if you love it (like we do), you can decide to renew for another 6 months, or save even more money and go with the 12 month subscription.
I recommend the 6 month to start because it saves you money over the monthly rate, and it gives you the chance to try it out as a full story before committing to another 6 month round or 12 months.
It’s a great way to get into the game and see if it’s right for you!
If you’re not into the subscription idea in general, don’t worry! You can still play Hunt A Killer!
Another option is to get past seasons as one-off purchases. With these, you’ll receive all the boxes at once.
Here are a few differences between the offerings:
The Hunt A Killer collections are the traditional murder mysteries.
The Earth Break series is sci-fi themed.
The Empty Faces collections are more supernatural.
So, there’s a little something for everyone, and a lot of really cool, different concepts!
Is Hunt A Killer Family Friendly?
Maybe.
It really depends what you consider “family friendly.”
Is Hunt A Killer Kid Friendly?
I’m not going to take this to play at game night with my 7 year old nephew. If I had a teenager, I’d consider including them in the game depending on their maturity level.
There are descriptive witness statements detailing crime scenes, we had an audio file of a 911 call, and you will likely get autopsy report details. All of those things should be taken into consideration before you decide what the age cut off should be for playing.
How Long Does Hunt A Killer Last?
The short answer is 6 months.
To recap what I said above, you join for a 6 month subscription or monthly billing, and over the course of that 6 months you are playing one season (remember, one season = one story / one murder to solve). You’ll receive 6 episodes (one episode = one box), one episode per month.
If you’re wondering how long each box / episode takes to complete, that totally depends on you!
When my husband and I play, we do take a few breaks, but I’d say it takes us 2-3 hours to complete each episode. The Hunt A Killer website says 1.5-3 hours, we seem to be in line with that, even accommodating breaks!
What Else Should I Know About Hunt A Killer?
I JUST found out something else that is really, super cool about Hunt A Killer…
Hunt A Killer donates some of the proceeds from each box to the Cold Case Foundation, which is a non-profit that helps provide resources to solve cold case files.
So it’s pretty cool that your fun game night or stay at home date night is also going toward helping solve real cases.
Tell me in the comments below if you have played Hunt A Killer, what season you played, and how you liked it!
I LOVE IT! I cannot wait to try it this year! Thank you for the recommendation!
Of course! Let me know which story you get and how you like it!