If you are shopping for a solve-it-yourself murder mystery, two names come up before any other: Hunt A Killer and Unsolved Case Files. They get compared constantly, and usually by people who have played neither. We make games in this category, so consider that bias disclosed up front. What follows is the honest version of the comparison, including where each one beats ours.
What each one actually is in 2026
Hunt A Killer built its name on a subscription: one chapter of a mystery per month, six months to the answer. That era is over. Today their store sells standalone boxes, most at $29.99 USD, with the whole story in one box. The strength is narrative: characters write to you, the story unfolds as you dig, and the production leans theatrical. It plays like an episode of a crime drama where you are the detective.
Unsolved Case Files went the other direction. Each game is a single cold-case folder: police reports, photographs, newspaper clippings. No story chapters, no theatrics, just documents and a set of objectives to prove. Cases typically run around $20 to $30 USD, and the brand lives mostly on Amazon and big-box shelves, where it has tens of thousands of reviews. It is the one you have seen at Target.
Head to head
| Hunt A Killer | Unsolved Case Files | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$29.99 USD per box | ~$20 to $30 USD per case |
| Format | Story-driven box: narrative, characters, props | Cold-case document folder |
| Feel | Immersive, scripted, theatrical | Dry, procedural, evidence-first |
| Players | 1 to 4 comfortably | 1 to 4 comfortably |
| Difficulty | Guided; the story pulls you forward | Objectives sheet keeps you on rails |
| Replay | None, one solve per box | None, one solve per case |
| Where sold | Own site, Amazon, retail | Amazon, Target, Walmart, own site |
| Canada | Free shipping is US-only; Canadians pay international shipping and currency conversion | Amazon.ca carries many cases; watch CAD pricing per title |
Which one should you buy?
Buy Hunt A Killer if you want a story. The writing carries it. If your group enjoys reading letters from a killer and slowly uncovering a plot, it is genuinely fun, and the standalone boxes fixed the old complaint of waiting a month between chapters. The trade-off is that a guided story leaves less pure deduction on the table than a raw evidence pack does.
Buy Unsolved Case Files if you want a puzzle. It is the cheaper, faster, more repeatable night: open the folder, work the objectives, check your answers. The trade-off is that it is built to a shelf price point, and the case resets to zero the moment you solve it.
Skip both if you want to host a party. Neither of these is a party game. They are table investigations for one to four people. If your plan is eight guests and drinks, you want a hosted murder mystery where guests play the suspects, which is a different product category entirely. Ours is A Fortune to Die For.
The honest Canadian math
Both brands price in USD and ship on American logistics. For a Canadian buyer, a $29.99 USD box lands north of $40 CAD before shipping, and Hunt A Killer’s free-shipping threshold explicitly applies to US orders. Unsolved Case Files does better here because Amazon.ca stocks many of its cases domestically, but price per title varies more than the US listings do. Check the CAD number on the exact case, not the brand’s US price, before you judge value.
The third option
We built Cold Ink Casefiles because we wanted the document-first format of Unsolved Case Files with the production values of a real evidence box: heavier stock, real photo-lab prints, sealed packets you open in order, and a sealed deduction trail that shows you exactly how you could have solved it, so the reveal never feels like a shrug. It is designed, printed, and assembled in Canada, priced in CAD, and there is no subscription and no border math.
You do not have to take our word for it. The Cliff is free: an eleven-document mini-case in the same format. Print it tonight, solve it in under an hour, and you will know whether document-style mysteries are for your table before you spend a dollar with anyone, including us.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hunt A Killer still a subscription?
The subscription is no longer the main offer. As of 2026 their store sells standalone boxes, most at $29.99 USD, each containing a complete mystery.
Is Unsolved Case Files replayable?
No, and neither is Hunt A Killer. Once you know the answer, the case is done. That is true of every game in this category, including ours, which is why we would rather you try a free case first and then buy the one you will love.
Which is better for two people?
Both work well at two. Unsolved Case Files is the lighter evening; Hunt A Killer gives you more to read aloud to each other. For a date-night structure built around exactly two people, see our murder mystery date night guide.
Which is best for a group of six or more?
None of the document games. At six-plus you want a hosted party format where every guest plays a suspect. That is a murder mystery dinner party game, not a case file.