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About Manhunt IRL

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Manhunt IRL is built by Aryan, a student developer, with one goal: when a group of friends says “download the app so we can play Manhunt,” there's only one app they could mean, and it's free for all of them.

Why this exists

Manhunt is one of the best games ever invented, and it costs nothing to play. But anyone who has played it knows how rounds actually go: one runner hides so well the game stalls, someone swears they weren’t tagged, nobody is sure where the boundary is, and the friend with a different phone ends up sitting out.

Apps for real-life hide-and-seek exist, and some are good. But most treat the game as elimination hide-and-seek, many put player caps or live locations behind a paywall, and almost none play the rules people actually grew up with: jail, jailbreak, a head start and a touch tag.

So I’m building the app I wanted: one that plays Manhunt, referees it fairly, works for the whole group, and ends with something worth talking about.

Principles

  1. The game comes first. The phone is the referee, not the point. It stays in your pocket.
  2. Free for the whole group. No player caps, no daily limits, no paying for information.
  3. Nobody left out. Android friends and friends without the app join from a link.
  4. Fair by design. The server decides what each player can see. Tags are confirmed. GPS noise is forgiven, never punished.
  5. Safe by default. Private games, no accounts, no chat with strangers, location only during a game.
  6. Every game ends in a story.

Building in public

I’m sharing the whole journey: the research, the design decisions, the numbers, and the mistakes.

  • Dev log: coming soon
  • LinkedIn: coming soon
  • TikTok: coming soon

Get in touch