If you finished a Hunt A Killer case in an evening and wanted something meatier, the right answer depends on what you liked about it. For more of the same document-sifting deduction, look at Deadbolt Mystery Society or Unsolved Case Files. For harder puzzles and a longer evening, look at our games or PostCurious. For something the whole family can play with no murder in it, Finders Seekers and Escape the Crate are the picks. Below is how long each one runs and who it suits.
We make one of the games below, so read us with that in mind. Every playtime and age rating here came from the company's own store in August 2026, and each name links out so you can check us. Prices move, so check those at the source.
Hunt A Killer is not a subscription box anymore
This is worth saying first, because most "alternatives" articles still describe it as one and then compare everything else on an axis that stopped existing in 2024.
Hunt A Killer was acquired by Relatable, the What Do You Meme? company, and now trades as Relatable Detectives in its site footer. Everything in the current catalog is a one-time purchase, and their own product copy says "no subscription required" on case after case. The one recurring charge left is an optional Evidence Locker membership, which buys early access, free shipping and bonus points instead of a box in the mail.
The catalog runs in tiers: a standard narrative case, a premium tier above it, and complete box sets at the top. A standard case is one evening. Their pages quote 45 to 60 minutes for Death at the Dive Bar and 90 to 120 minutes for the longer titles, for 1 to 5 players, ages 14 and up.
So if the subscription commitment is what sent you looking for alternatives, that reason is gone. If the cases felt short or too easy once you got the hang of them, that gap is real and several games below fill it.
One warning before you shop their back catalog: most archived titles are sold out. Curtain Call and Mallory Rock, the two seasons older articles recommend most often, cannot be bought new from them today.
If you want the same deduction in a single box
These keep the core Hunt A Killer experience of reading documents and eliminating suspects, without a season-long arc. Unsolved Case Files belongs in this group too, and because it is the comparison people search for most, it gets its own head-to-head further down.
Deadbolt Mystery Society
Deadbolt is the closest match in genre. Each box holds a self-contained murder mystery that mixes suspect elimination with escape-room puzzle mechanics, at 2 to 3 hours for 1 to 4 players, ages 13 and up, sold either as a one-off box or on a monthly subscription.
We went further on them in a separate guide to games like Deadbolt Mystery Society, which covers the gap between what their FAQ page says and what their checkout charges, what their difficulty rating does and does not tell you, and where to go once you have run out of their boxes.
Cryptic Killers
Cryptic Killers is a British company running cold-case deduction with a twist we like a lot. Some of the evidence lives in bespoke websites, so you log into a police database or read phone records instead of only shuffling paper. Cases run 2 to 3.5 hours, hold around 36 pieces of physical evidence, and carry a published difficulty rating of 3 to 5 out of 5. Their own copy describes them as suited to teens or adults without giving a numbered age.
Their own shop is UK-facing and prices in pounds. US buyers generally go through their Amazon listing, which is separately priced rather than converted.
If Hunt A Killer felt too short or too easy
This is the gap our own games were built for, and it is the reason we hear most often from people who find us after playing something else.
Puzzling Pursuits, for harder puzzles in an at-home escape room game
Puzzling Pursuits makes at-home escape room games that are puzzle-led instead of deduction-led. You still work inside a story and still sift through physical materials, but what stands between you and the ending is usually a cipher, a hidden pattern or a piece of lateral thinking, not working out who lied about an alibi. Most of our boxes hold two parts that together resolve one story, which is where the longer playtime comes from. Plenty of players take longer still, because the hint system is online and optional and some groups refuse to touch it.
One design constraint is worth calling out, because it is unusual in this category and no competitor page mentions it: none of our puzzles require cutting or writing on the materials. The practical result is that a finished game can be passed to a friend intact.
- Blackbrim: 1876, our Victorian detective game, is where most people start. You are a private detective chasing a criminal who has taken a town's police force hostage. 1 to 6 players, 2 to 4+ hours across two parts, ages 14+, 4.8 stars from 525 reviews.
- Down the Rabbit Hole, our Wonderland escape game, is the gentlest way in, an adventure built as an approachable introduction that still amuses experienced solvers. 1 to 6 players, 1.5 to 3+ hours, ages 12+, 4.8 stars from 77 reviews.
- The Fifth Column, our WWII codebreaker game, puts you in the shoes of a codebreaker in Manhattan in June 1945, unpicking a Nazi plot after Germany's surrender. 1 to 6 players, 2 to 4+ hours across two parts, ages 14+, 4.9 stars from 151 reviews.
If the last game you played was solved too quickly, see how Blackbrim: 1876 works. It carries 4.8 stars from 525 reviews.
We played Blackbrim 1876 over two days with a family of 5, ages 10 to (well let's just say above middle aged). We had a great time, challenging it is, but everyone got involved and help solve the puzzles.
Kevin H., verified review
We rate Blackbrim 14+, though families play it younger all the time.
Straight about where we sit: our shortest box lands in much the same tier as a standard Hunt A Killer case, for a longer game. Blackbrim asks for more than a standard case and gives you double or more the play against their shorter titles, landing about where Hunt A Killer's own premium tier does. If a short, inexpensive evening is what you want, their standard case is genuinely the better buy. You can see the full range of our at-home escape room games if you want to compare lengths before choosing.
PostCurious
PostCurious is the other answer to "make it harder", and it makes the most beautiful objects in this category. These are narrative puzzle adventures with tarot decks, fabric maps and watercolor artwork, sold through AllPlay. The Light in the Mist runs around five hours; The Emerald Flame is longer still and priced accordingly.
Nothing here is a murder to solve, so treat this as a recommendation for puzzle people more than for true-crime people.
If you want no murder at the table
Both of these are cooperative puzzle games with real production quality, and neither involves a corpse.
Finders Seekers
Finders Seekers ships a different real-world destination every month, with puzzles built around that culture. Their site is explicit that the games are family friendly with no murders or violence, which makes this the pick for a table with younger players. It runs month to month or on prepaid plans, for 1 to 8 players, ages 10 and up, at 1.5 to 3+ hours. They also run a Junior Explorers line aimed at ages 5 to 10.
Escape the Crate
Escape the Crate had Hunt A Killer's news in reverse: they ended their subscription on May 1, 2026 and now sell every box as a one-off. The company is active and shipped new games in July and August 2026. Boxes are designed for 2 to 4 players and up to 6, around 2 to 3 hours, ages 10 and up, with special releases priced above the standard line. Themes lean adventure over crime, with Atlantis, Vikings and Bigfoot in the current line. You need a phone or laptop to enter answers and get hints.
If you go looking for them, note that escapethecrate.com is a dog boarding business in Idaho. The game company is at escape-the-crate.com, with hyphens.
EXIT: The Game, the cheapest way to test the format
EXIT from Thames & Kosmos is the budget entry, and a good one. Standard titles take 1 to 4 players, 1 to 2 hours, ages 10 or 12 and up depending on the title, with a difficulty rating out of 5 printed on the box. They are pure escape-room puzzle chains, and the catalog runs past fifty titles including Lord of the Rings and Catan tie-ins.
The trade-off is permanent on the standard line. EXIT's standard titles expect you to fold, write on and cut up the components; the manual suggests scissors and adds that you can tear the materials by hand if you have none. You play once and the box is spent. Their separate Kids line, for ages 5 to 7, is replayable.
The Mysterious Package Company, for a spectacle rather than a game night
The Mysterious Package Company is different enough that it barely belongs on a comparison list, but people who love Hunt A Killer's props tend to love it. They mail elaborate physical artifacts, wooden crates and aged documents, mostly in horror and Lovecraftian territory. Their Post Mortem line is the closest to a conventional murder mystery, for 1 to 6 players over 3 to 4 hours. At the top end, HASTUR is quoted at 10+ hours and priced like the object it is. They are based near Toronto and price in USD for US buyers.
Sleuth Kings, which you cannot currently buy
Sleuth Kings built a good reputation on standalone cases framed as letters from a fictional lead detective, including a kid-friendly Rookie tier that most of this category lacks. As of August 2026 we could not find anything purchasable. Both subscription tiers show as sold out, the archives are listed as sold out, and their Cratejoy storefront redirects to the marketplace homepage.
We have seen no announcement that they have closed, so this is not us calling time on them. Treat it as not currently taking orders, and check back.
Unsolved Case Files vs Hunt A Killer
This is the head-to-head people search for most, and the two differ more than they look.
Unsolved Case Files gives you a single cold case in one file. You read the newspaper clippings, police documents and photographs, then solve three sequential objectives, checking answers against an online key. Cases run about 2 to 3 hours for ages 14 and up, and their FAQ states no player limit, because everyone works the same evidence together. It sells in Target, Walmart and Barnes & Noble as well as online, and it undercuts Hunt A Killer at every tier the two share.
Hunt A Killer's standard cases run 45 minutes to 2 hours, and are built for 1 to 5 players.
The differences that actually decide it:
- Group size. Unsolved Case Files scales to a party. Hunt A Killer is built for a small group, and a big table ends up watching two people read.
- Story. Hunt A Killer writes a stronger narrative, with recurring characters and a season arc if you buy a box set. Unsolved Case Files is a puzzle of fact: one case, done.
- Feel. Unsolved Case Files reads like a real case file more than a designed product, which some people prefer and some don't.
- Value. Unsolved Case Files gives you more hours for the money.
Take Unsolved Case Files for a bigger group at a lower price. Take Hunt A Killer for the better writing. Neither will scratch the itch if what you actually want is harder puzzles, which is the honest case for the games further up this page. We put the two side by side in more detail in Unsolved Case Files vs Hunt A Killer.
If you arrived here from Box One, the theory11 puzzle box presented by Neil Patrick Harris, rather than from Hunt A Killer, we wrote a companion guide to games like Box One that covers that side of the category.
How to pick, quickly
Answer one question: what disappointed you about the last game?
| What went wrong | Where to go next |
|---|---|
| Solved it too fast | Our games, or PostCurious |
| Too much reading, not enough puzzle | EXIT or Escape the Crate |
| Too grim for the table | Finders Seekers |
| Too expensive | Unsolved Case Files or EXIT |
| Miss having a monthly box | Deadbolt Mystery Society or Finders Seekers |
If you want the long version of ours
The three-game Blackbrim Trilogy collects all three Victorian games. It runs 10+ hours across six parts and carries 4.9 stars from 533 reviews.
Common questions
These are the questions we get asked most by people arriving from another game.
Is Hunt A Killer still a subscription?
No. Since the Relatable acquisition the catalog is entirely one-time purchases, and their product pages say so directly. The only recurring option is an Evidence Locker membership, which is a perks program rather than a box subscription.
Which game is closest to Hunt A Killer?
Deadbolt Mystery Society, if you want the same murder-mystery deduction in a standalone box. Unsolved Case Files, if you want the same idea at a lower price for a bigger group.
Can I pass these games on when I'm done?
Depends on the maker. Ours can be passed on, because no puzzle needs you to cut or write on anything. EXIT's standard games cannot, since the components are designed to be written on and cut up, though their Kids line is replayable. The others sit in between, so check before you plan to hand a game to a friend.
What's the best one for a family with younger kids?
Finders Seekers, which is explicitly free of murder and violence and rated for ages 10 and up, with a separate line for ages 5 to 10. Escape the Crate is also 10+. Most games in this category are rated 13 or 14 and up. Ours are 14+, except Down the Rabbit Hole at 12+, and none of them turn on a murder. The Blackbrim games are a manhunt.
How long an evening should I expect?
Most single boxes here run one to three hours. EXIT is one to two, a standard Hunt A Killer case is 45 minutes to two, Deadbolt and Unsolved Case Files are two to three, and ours run two to four and up across two parts. The outliers are PostCurious and the Mysterious Package Company's HASTUR, which runs 10+ hours. A shorter box generally means a shorter evening rather than a worse game.
Do any of these need a phone or internet?
Several do. Escape the Crate, Deadbolt and Cryptic Killers all use online components as a core part of play. Ours uses an online companion guide for hints and answer checking, which a stubborn group can largely ignore.
Playtimes and availability were checked against each company's own store in August 2026 and will drift over time.