Unsolved Case Files and Hunt A Killer both drop a murder file on your kitchen table and ask you to work out who did it, and their entry-level cases sit at much the same price. Buy Unsolved Case Files if more than five people are playing, or if you want the longest evening for the money. Buy Hunt A Killer if you are ordering from outside the United States, if you want a written story with characters, or if it is a gift and you need to match the difficulty to the person opening it.
We make at-home escape room games, we make neither of these two, and we sell against both, so read us with that in mind. We have not played either one end to end, so nothing below is a review of how they feel. Every playtime, player count and shipping rule came from each company's own live store or FAQ, and each claim links out so you can check us. Current prices are on their own pages, because they move.
Does Hunt A Killer still do subscriptions?
No, and Unsolved Case Files now does. The recurring charge has moved from one side of this comparison to the other, which is worth getting straight before anything else, because it is the reason most people go looking for a comparison at all.
Hunt A Killer's own story page puts it in one line: "In 2024, Hunt A Killer joined the Relatable family." Relatable is the company behind What Do You Meme?, and the copyright line at the bottom of huntakiller.com now reads "© 2026, Relatable Detectives". Every case in the current catalog is a one-time purchase. The only recurring charge anywhere in their store is an Evidence Locker membership, and that buys perks. No box arrives.
Unsolved Case Files went the other way. They now run a subscription, sold as a six-month or twelve-month plan paid up front or monthly, shipping included, US customers only.
So if you came here to avoid a recurring charge, Hunt A Killer is the one with no subscription attached to its games.
How the two catalogs are built
Both companies also sell through Amazon, Target and Walmart, so what you see depends on where you look. The structures are quite different.
Hunt A Killer runs four tiers:
- Cold Case, the cheapest way into their catalog. The Girl in the Well is the current one.
- Narrative cases. This is most of the catalog and what people usually mean by "a Hunt A Killer box".
- Premium cases, the longest and hardest things they sell.
- Box sets, including Blair Witch (Season 1).
One warning if you go shopping in their archive: most of the retired titles are sold out, Curtain Call and Mallory Rock included.
Unsolved Case Files is simpler and cheaper across the board. They sell single cases, and their bundles are where the real value sits, with three-case sets priced well below three singles.
Their site needs a word of warning. It is built on Weebly with Shopify buy buttons dropped into it, and the price printed beside a button does not always match the price in the cart. We have seen the two disagree. Look at the cart total before you pay.
How long each one actually lasts
This is where they separate, and where Hunt A Killer's own numbers do them no favors at the cheap end. To their credit, their case pages publish a playtime, a player count and a difficulty rating out of five, which is more than most companies in this category manage.
- The Girl in the Well, their Cold Case tier: 60 to 90 minutes, difficulty 1 of 5, 1+ players, ages 14+.
- Death at the Dive Bar, a narrative case: 45 to 60 minutes, difficulty 2 of 5, 1 to 5 players, ages 14+.
- Camp Calamity, premium: 3 to 5 hours, difficulty 4 of 5, ages 14+. They print no player count on this one.
On the other side there is no difficulty rating published anywhere, which is a real gap when you are choosing blind. We do not print a number either, and should own that.
On length their FAQ says "on average about 2-3 hours", then widens it in the next breath: "most teams of 2 or more people can complete our cases in 2-6 hours." Ages 14 and up, held at roughly what they call a PG-13 level.
Put those side by side and the gap is hard to argue with. At the entry tier the two are priced within a few dollars of each other, and one gives you an hour while the other gives you two to three. Buy a three-case bundle and the hours-per-dollar gap widens again. The only Hunt A Killer tier that genuinely competes on length is the premium line: Camp Calamity runs three to five hours and is rated four out of five for difficulty instead of two.
How many people can actually play
Hunt A Killer prints a player count on each case and it is a small one. Death at the Dive Bar is 1 to 5 players. The Girl in the Well says 1+, which in practice means the same small huddle, because there is one file and only so many pairs of hands that fit around it.
The other side has no player limit at all. Unsolved Case Files says so outright in their FAQ and gives the reason: each case holds over 50 documents, so a large group can spread out and everyone ends up with something in front of them. Above six to eight people they suggest splitting into teams and racing with two copies of the same case.
If you are buying for a party, a work night or a family gathering, that settles it before any of the other arguments start.
What you are left holding afterwards
Hardly anyone covers this, and it is the question that matters most if the box is a gift or you were planning to lend it on.
On this, Unsolved Case Files answers for itself, and more generously than they get credit for. Asked whether a case can only be played once, their FAQ says yes, because "it's like a murder mystery book or a movie", then adds that if you take care of the materials and reassemble them in the same way, you may be able to pass the file on to another fan. Single-use as a story, then, and re-giftable with some care.
Hunt A Killer makes no claim either way that we could find, and structurally it lands in the same place. Once you know who did it, the case is spent, whatever condition the paper is in.
Between these two, Unsolved Case Files takes it, because it is the only one of them that puts a route in writing. Ours attach no conditions at all, which is a sales point for us, so weigh it accordingly.
How the two differ on hints
This sounds like a small thing and it changes an evening more than people expect.
Over at Unsolved Case Files, three hints sit behind each objective on the online answer key, and the hint button does not appear until you have entered a wrong answer. Their how-to-play page is explicit about it. If you are stuck but have not guessed yet, you have to guess wrong before you can get help.
We built ours the other way round on purpose. Our companion guide opens whenever you like, at whatever depth you want, with no wrong answer required first and no clock running, because a group that has to fail before it can ask tends to stop asking. Plenty still refuse to touch it, which is part of why our playtimes carry a plus sign.
Which one to buy
Six situations cover almost everyone who lands on a Hunt A Killer vs Unsolved Case Files comparison, and each one gets a straight answer.
More than five people at the table: Unsolved Case Files
This is the clearest verdict on the page. Fifty-plus documents and no stated player limit against Hunt A Killer's printed cap of five. A big table playing Hunt A Killer turns into two people reading while everyone else waits.
Two of you, one evening, best value: Unsolved Case Files
Much the same entry price, roughly double the hours. Two people who want their Saturday night filled get more from a case file than from a 45-minute narrative case, and it is not close.
You want a written story with characters: Hunt A Killer
A narrative case is written fiction with people in it. The case file is deliberately the opposite, built to read like something that landed on your desk. The rule to apply to yourself is simple: if you enjoy a novel, buy the narrative case, and if you would sooner be handed a box of paper and left alone with it, buy the case file. Either way the crime is invented. Their FAQ, asked whether the cases are real, answers: "No. We make them up."
A gift for someone whose puzzle tolerance you cannot guess: Hunt A Killer
Because they publish a difficulty rating, you can buy a 1 of 5 for a nervous first-timer or a 4 of 5 for someone who finishes crosswords in pen. There is nothing to aim with on the Unsolved Case Files side, and their own how-to-play page warns that "this ain't easy".
Ordering from the UK or anywhere else outside the US: Hunt A Killer
Hunt A Killer quotes the same USD price wherever you are, and their store reaches 27 countries beyond the US, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, most of western Europe, Japan, Singapore and the UAE. Their free shipping offer stops at the 50 states, so you pay standard rates at checkout.
By contrast, Unsolved Case Files reaches five countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. You order through a separate international page, the international edition of a case is priced above the domestic one, and their FAQ warns of a further shipping charge on top, before whatever customs your country adds. A case that is cheap in Ohio can land at several times that in Manchester. Outside those five countries it is not an option at all.
You want harder puzzles or a longer night: Hunt A Killer premium, or ours
Neither of the cheap boxes will do it. An entry-tier case file and a narrative case are both built to be finished in one sitting by people who mostly want the story.
If you want to stay inside this pair, buy Hunt A Killer's premium tier. Camp Calamity runs three to five hours at four out of five difficulty, and it is the only thing either company sells that answers the question.
If you will look outside the pair, this is the gap we build for, and we are now recommending ourselves, so discount accordingly. Blackbrim: 1876 is 1 to 6 players, 2 to 4+ hours across two parts, ages 14+, 4.8 stars from 525 reviews. Roughly the same tier as Camp Calamity, and the obstacle is a cipher or a hidden pattern instead of an alibi.
The Fifth Column is the one we sell most of: 1 to 6 players, 2 to 4+ hours across two parts, ages 14+, 4.9 stars from 151 reviews. It is Manhattan in June 1945, Germany has already surrendered, and a Nazi plot is still running, so there is no suspect list and no alibi to break. If what you liked about a case file was the paperwork rather than the accusation, that is the one to try.
| Your situation | What to buy |
|---|---|
| Six or more people playing | Unsolved Case Files |
| Two people, cheapest full evening | Unsolved Case Files, or one of their three-case bundles |
| You want a story with characters | Hunt A Killer, a narrative case |
| A gift, difficulty unknown | Hunt A Killer, pick by its 1 to 5 rating |
| Ordering from the UK or overseas | Hunt A Killer |
| You want harder puzzles | Hunt A Killer premium, or ours: The Fifth Column or Blackbrim: 1876 |
| You want to pass the box on afterwards | Unsolved Case Files of the two, or our boxed games, where nothing is cut or written on |
Where our games fit, and where they do not
We make boxed at-home escape room games. The thing standing between you and the ending is usually a cipher, a hidden pattern or a piece of lateral thinking, not the question of which suspect lied about an alibi. That is a difference in kind.
So, plainly: if you want a whodunit, buy Unsolved Case Files or Hunt A Killer. We do not make one. Only our Blackbrim line is detective work at all, and it is a manhunt instead of a mystery, because you know who you are chasing from the first page and the problem is catching him.
What we do have is length and one design rule. Most of our boxes hold two parts that resolve a single story, so an evening runs two to four hours and often longer. And none of our puzzles require cutting or writing on the materials, so nothing is consumed, nothing has to go back in a particular order, and a finished box travels to a friend intact. Unsolved Case Files hedges the same promise with "if you take care of the materials", and we do not have to.
If your table has younger players, Down the Rabbit Hole is the gentler way in and the only game we make below the 14+ line. 1 to 6 players, 1.5 to 3+ hours, ages 12+, 4.8 stars from 77 reviews.
We will be blunt about where we sit. Blackbrim costs more than a narrative case and gives you double or more the play, landing in much the same tier as Hunt A Killer's premium line. If a short, inexpensive evening is what you are after, their Cold Case is genuinely the better buy, and we would tell you so at a convention booth.
If your last murder mystery box was over before you had finished your drink, see how Blackbrim: 1876 works. It holds 4.8 stars from 525 reviews.
Some of the puzzles, especially in part 2, were a little more challenging than other mystery games that we've played. There was just less hand-holding and explicit direction for how the puzzles work, so we really had to think creatively to make our way through the game.
Janette S., verified review
We rate Blackbrim 14+, and it is the harder end of what we make. Anyone who finishes it and wants more can pick up the three-game Blackbrim Trilogy later, and the rest of our at-home escape room games sit alongside it.
We compared this whole category, including Deadbolt Mystery Society, Cryptic Killers and EXIT, in our guide to games like Hunt A Killer.
Common questions
These are the questions we get asked most by people trying to choose between the two.
How do the two ranges compare?
Hunt A Killer runs four tiers, from a single Cold Case up through narrative cases, premium cases and box sets, and publishes a difficulty rating on each. Unsolved Case Files is simpler and cheaper: single cases plus multi-case bundles, with no difficulty rating anywhere. Their bundles are where the value sits if you expect to play more than one.
Which one lasts longer?
Unsolved Case Files, at every tier the two share. Their FAQ says 2 to 3 hours on average and up to 6 for some teams. Hunt A Killer quotes 45 to 60 minutes for Death at the Dive Bar and 60 to 90 minutes for The Girl in the Well. Only their premium cases run 3 to 5 hours.
How many people can play each one?
Unsolved Case Files states no player limit, because each case holds over 50 documents for a group to share, and suggests splitting into teams above six to eight people. Hunt A Killer prints a smaller count on the box, with Death at the Dive Bar built for 1 to 5 players.
Can you play either one twice, or pass it on?
Not twice, in either case, because once you know the answer the game is over. Unsolved Case Files says you may be able to pass a file on if you take care of the materials and reassemble them in the same way. Ours can be passed on with no conditions attached, since no puzzle needs you to cut or write on anything.
Does either one still run a subscription?
Only Unsolved Case Files, sold as a six-month or twelve-month plan paid up front or monthly, US only. Hunt A Killer stopped selling its games by subscription after joining Relatable in 2024, and the only recurring charge left in their store is an Evidence Locker membership that buys perks instead of boxes.
Are the Unsolved Case Files cases real cold cases?
No. Their FAQ answers the question directly: "No. We make them up." The presentation is built to feel like a real file, but the crimes are written, the same as Hunt A Killer's.
Playtimes, player counts and shipping terms were checked against each company's own store and FAQ in August 2026 and will drift.
