How to play

A round takes 15–60 minutes and works best with 4–20 people. One person hosts; everyone else joins with a six-character code.

1. Set up the game

• The host opens the app, taps Host a game and shares the code or invite link.
• Everyone picks Hunter, Runner or Random. Random players fill whichever side needs people; there is always at least one of each.
• The host sets the house rules: round length (5–120 min), head start (1–15 min), how often pings happen (every 1–15 min, or never) and the play zone.
• When everyone has tapped I’m ready, the host starts the round.

2. Head start — the countdown

Runners scatter and hide. Hunters stay where they are with eyes off the map while the app counts down — one, two, three… — and tells everyone when the hunt begins.

3. The hunt

• Teams see each other live. Your teammates are on your map in real time. Runners never see hunters.
• Pings — “Kahan ho?” (Where are you?) On the ping schedule, hunters receive a snapshot of where every runner was at that moment, labelled with how long ago it was. Runners see a countdown to their next ping and feel a buzz when it happens. Move after every ping!
• The zone. If the host turned it on, the playable area is a circle that can shrink every few minutes, reaching its final size for the last five minutes. Runners outside the zone for 30 seconds become visible to hunters live until they come back in.
• Radio. Each team has a private chat with quick calls like “Hunter paas hai! (Hunter nearby!)” and “Main safe hoon (I’m safe)”.

4. Catching — Dhappa! (Caught you!)

Photo Dhappa. The whole game is staying out of sight — and out of every hunter’s camera. Spot a runner from anywhere, open the camera in the app and snap them. It counts if it’s clearly them: face visible, or clothes match and they’re recognisable. The runner gets 60 seconds to answer: “Haan, that’s me” and they’re out, or “Not me” and the host decides from the photo — fairly. No answer counts as caught. A photo the host turns down means a 30-second wait before the next one. Photos go only to that runner and the host, and are deleted when the round ends. The host can switch photo catch off.

Or tag in person — a touch on the shoulder or arm, nothing rough. The tagged runner taps Dhappa! and is out for the rest of the round (they can still cheer on their team in radio). Either way the whole game hears about it: Dhappa! Caught you, Ravi! Nothing counts during the head start.

5. Winning

• If every runner is tagged, hunters win — sab pakde gaye! (everyone caught!)
• If time runs out with at least one runner still free, runners win — bach gaye! (we escaped!)
• Ek aur round? (One more?) The host can start another round with the same code — swap sides and go again.

Good defaults

Before you play, read the safety guide.