In the midst of a small town in the countryside, there have been reports of a monster terrorizing the townsfolk. Word has gone out far and wide for aid to help fight against this unknown evil. Six bounty hunters answer the call and have tracked their quarry to an abandoned mansion; however, they do not know that among their number is the very monster they seek! Will they be able to slay the monster and collect the reward, or will they too fall prey to this unholy evil? This is the setting for Hunt: The Unknown Quarry, a thrilling game of deduction and combat from the team at Victory Point Games.

The game begins by laying out three of the game boards on the table (each board representing a level of the house). There is a different layout on each side of the boards giving the players a new experience every time they start a game. Each player then takes a character pawn and puts it in the Hall on the ground floor. Next, the cards are shuffled and distributed amongst both the players and the game board (the number next to that space shows how many cards are contained in that room). One of the players grabs two of five monstrous cards (which are wasting, magic, bite, tireless, and resilience) and comparing on the sheet, those cards determine what monster is being hunted. Monsters range from vampires and werewolves to fairies and golems, and each monster is uniquely susceptible to specific weapons. For example, a vampire would be vulnerable to a hunter's bow or firebrand.

At the beginning of the game, the player that has opted to go first gets one action, the second player gains two, and so forth up until four actions can be taken. You don’t need to take all the allotted actions if you don’t wish to. What you can do with one action is move from one room to another, search the cards in that room, pick up a card in that room, or interact with other players if they are in the same room. However, you cannot interact with other players during the first two turns of the game which adds to the tension. Will you start moving away from other players searching to gather information on the monster as well as needed supplies? Or would you stay close to other players, waiting for the chance to strike? There are three basic actions that you can take and those are spy (seeing one of your target’s cards), brawl (do damage against your target), or grab (take a card from your opponent's hand).

As gameplay progresses you will be interacting with other players and you can become “harassed” when two players are in the same room. The opposing player(s) can choose to flee, but this costs two actions instead of one. All actions are resolved by a single six-sided die, and the cards will tell you what number corresponds to what result. For example, you might need to roll a 5 or 6 to wound your target and unless you get those numbers the attack is ineffective. Also, when being attacked, you can choose to play a reaction card which can be used to negate attacks (both regular and monstrous).  You can also use energy in various ways such as surge (add 1 to your roll or subtract 1 from your opponent), adrenaline (take an extra action), or feint (ignore the effects of being harassed).

Interactions between other players as well as yourself are kept secret as this is a game that you need to guess what your opponents are up to; the only way to know what monster you are up against is to find the monstrous cards that are scattered throughout the mansion. You will also need to uncover the corresponding weapons that will slay your quarry, as well. And seeing as you can only have four cards in your hand at any given time it makes it even more challenging to find the right combination to kill said monster. Victory is achieved when the monster has been eliminated — or the rest of the bounty hunters have become incapacitated.

One of the notable elements about this game is that you need to trust the players involved. A high degree of secrecy needs to be maintained. The cards in your hand and the wounds that you have taken during the game are secret. If someone gains access to that info they can gain the upper hand and possibly win the game.

This has to be one of the most unique games I have played in a while, as there is tons of secrecy, backstabbing, and just plain fun as you become the hunter — and the hunted. For more information on this and other games, visit www.victorypointgames.com and get ready to go on a hunt.