EXPLAINER TRACKS THE MONTREAL MANHUNT.

1. This orange armband is used to distinguish those in the hunt from your average pedestrian. So what is a Manhunt? Well, a group of would-be hunters and prey gather at a predetermined public location. One person volunteers to be the "hunter" and the rest become prey. The prey are then given time to hide within the boundaries of play and the hunter, well, hunts. Get found and tagged by the hunter and you become one as well. The game lasts for 30 minutes. The Montreal Manhunt was started by Phil Paynter, a Concordia student, and Adair MacGregor, a recent grad, after a friend first played a game in Vancouver. "We thought it sounded like fun," says Paynter. "So we called a bunch of friends. We had a pretty decent turnout of about 25 people the first time." Over the course of four hunts they have had over 120 different people show up.

2. The hunt seems to be catching on with people, and many say it's a Canuck invention. Other versions of the game exist, but this variant is reported to have started in Toronto. There are also Manhunts in Vancouver and Edmonton, and they have caught on in New York; Bath, England; and Perth, Australia. "The Australians attribute the game to 'crazy Canucks,'" says Paynter. The Montreal crew distinguish themselves with the literary flair of their invitations and website at wwww.manhunt-montreal.com. The invitation for a recent June 17 Manhunt noted the assigned playing area was rife with "trendy hipster pedestrians who will follow you around because of your keen orange fashion sense." It also relayed an overheard conversation between two pedestrians caught up in the previous game. "Hipster Girl #1: What are those orange armbands for? Hipster Girl #2: I think it's for, like, cancer?" Paynter says there's an art to not being caught. "We encourage running around. Some people hide underneath a bush and never get caught, but we mock them for spending a half-hour under a bush."

 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

From Hide and Go Seek     This is spin off of Hide and Go Seek where a child had a home base, most likely a tree and would count to ten and his friends would hide. The object would be for them to tag home base before the child could. Of course if they all could reach home base then the child would have to count again and again. It was good fun but often if the same kid had to catch the others he'd get sore. So what happens in Manhunt, do players just hide under bushes and in door ways or what?Just kiddin. Guess somehow the object must be not to be seen over a time interval or there is some sort of return to base logic there as well. Treasure hunts are cool as well, don't need the latest in technology when you're just looking to burn off a few calories and want to be inventive. All you need is somewhere to hide the object to be found and a given period to find it in. Obviously it starts out with someone reading out a list of clues or reading a few lines where the clues are hidden. This requires more mental input than Manhunt and is far more challenging. It allows kids to create alliances to decipher the clues and work together in teams if they like, where they can share strategies. My sister ended up finding an envelop with cash in an abandoned broomstick many years ago on a treasure hunt...there was a great sense of accomplishment!!
Martin Dansky	{32 votes}	June 23rd, 2006
Man on a mission!     This is just like hide and seek , but I think it's cool cause it's a whole bunch of people that are playing. And it's even cooler cause it takes part in Montreal,on the streets. It not only makes it fun cause you're playing with a whole slew of people, but it's also cool that at the same time , you're getting a nice look at some of the city's best buildings, streets, parks and cafes. This game seems to be really enticing, and I actually would like to run into someone with an orange band, and ask them how much fun it is, and how long they've been waiting! It's just an overall cool way to just mess around on a great day outside. What better way than to slap on an orange band, and hide like the bombers are coming to get you?!
Meghna Patel	{13 votes}	June 22nd, 2006
*Explain this!!!*     Ok, so yeah, it basically is Hide and Seek for geeks (and owes a *huge* nod to 1985's "Gotcha!" with Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino) but hey, give credit where credit is due--these are geeks that are playing a stupid silly game outside *instead of* online!!! Yes, I think this is a childish waste of time but at least it's a waste of time that takes them off their collective butts in front of computer screens. This isn't for me but I can see the appeal for some. Simple silly geeky games.
Pedro Eggers	{3 votes}	June 29th, 2006
Gotcha!     So in the 80's there was this cool film called Gotcha, where a bunch of students would hunt each-other on an american campus, the story ends up being an international thriller movie but that is besides the point .... the point is that this sounds fun and I will be signing up as soon as possible. I just hope that no one gets hurt or that no one mistakes this game for something else (I mean a bunch of people wereing orange arm bands is a bit out there) but this soulds like good fun and it is an excuse to meet new people. The game is afoot!
Dawn Manhertz	{4 votes}	June 28th, 2006
Great idea!     Its a first for me .I never heard about that game going around in the plateau. But i do have to say that it sounds really nice and it does keep kids away from doing bad things like drugs or joining gangs. Its a big hide and seek game and the more people the better! Instead of staying home with your computer games or PlayStation and all ;you get to be outside and you get your bodies moving .Quite some exercise and quite some fun! This Concordia student had a great idea. Maybe he should explore on some more great ideas such as this one. Way to go Mr.PHIL on your game invention!
Jacqueline Ettedgui	{4 votes}	June 26th, 2006
Childrens games with a definate twist...     haha...this sounds great!...we've just finished a similar game here up at planting camp in northern ontario...same basic premis, except we've dubbed it the 'killing game'...everyone in camp is assigned someone elses name whom they have to kill...strict rules of when, where and how you can 'kill' that person are enforced and once you kill them, you recieve the name of what whould have been their victim, and the game continues until there are just two people left playing and one eventual winner... nothing like returning to a time when you could be as silly as you wanted to, have fun running around and just playing - but the adult version of course!... sign me up for manhunt!
Genia Chepurniy	{6 votes}	June 25th, 2006
Memories     This is so funny. Brings back many memories from my childhood. My brother and his friends used to play hide n seek in the lane behind my house and of course being the younger sister I always wanted to play. Who do you think would be the seeker? Of course, it was me, the younger sister. No matter who won if I wanted to stay in the game I had to seek! I would get so upset. Who doesn't want to go back and reminiscence. This sounds great! A bunch of grown ups hiding in the montreal streets. Personally I'd rather go and trek on a mountain somewhere, anywhere. A little tipster for you's manhunters, how about hiding behind a persons fat bottom!!
Isabelle Bastien	{6 votes}	June 24th, 2006
Looks fun     This sounds very interesting, I always liked playing hide and seek when I was younger but this has a new twist to it and plus it's with adults, sounds like fun, I would hope that it would last more than half an hour but hey, we can always play a second game, I'll definitely go have a look at their website, hoping that the next rendez-vous is not too far away.
Roxane Gibault	{5 votes}	June 24th, 2006
Yeah...right!     I'm sorry, this might sound harsh. But a bunch of geeks putting on arm bands, and running around town giggling like 8 years old girls is hardly a fad. Things like Lazor Tag, or Paintball, are much more popular than something that 6 or 7 people might get together to play. Oh... wait.... they have a website? And they know Australian geeks. So it must be cool! Oh please (I am rolling my eyes since Hour doesn't have emoticons).
Eric Wilson	{6 votes}	June 23rd, 2006
Urban Hunt!     Manhunt - wow, a modern urban take on hide and seek/tag on such a huge scale! Sounds like fun, especially because there's a sense of gentle irreverance involved. It must be a surreal experienece, though, for the uninformed as they watch people stalk each other bedecked in orange armbands. Perish the though that the police should get the wrong idea too. Anyway, it's a novel idea - sounds like the whole point behind it is to have fun, meet people, and enjoy the camraderie inherent in playing such a game!
Mark St Pierre	{11 votes}	June 23rd, 2006
Man-hunt! oh god here they come     This is wonderful. I say this without sarcasm. Although i don't think this 'phenomenon' is a uniquely 'canuck' creation as i'm sure we've all done this as a little kid whether we come from North America or Papua New Guinea is besides the point. The point is that this is lots of fun and reinvigorates youthful spirit! We need more of these games and as soon as possible. Thinking about it, i'm gonna join in this hunt, 1-2-3 you're it!
Eric St-Pierre	{5 votes}	June 22nd, 2006
Reach Out and Touch Someone     First came the random pillow fights that started showing up in the city so it comes as no surprise to find a more contact sport in manhunting become popular. It is very strange that the concept reminds me of the horror concept found in those famous Night of the Living Dead flicks where humans fight to stay alive by avoiding being bitten by livng dead people. I wonder what all those social groups fighting to protect women are saying about this concept. We work so hard to protect women and teach them to be weary of others when walking alone do we allow complete strangers tag us during a game! I can see some opportunistic people "involuntarily" touch somebody for the sake of the game for personal gratification. Does the Montreal not have enough going on to keep us entertained? I personally do not see any benefits to manhunting other than some cardio work from the running.
Ronny Pangia	{4 votes}	June 22nd, 2006
Explainer     Montreal Manhunt. Seems like a great way to waste a lot of time. Honestly I stopped playing hide and go seek when I turned ten even if it was a "sophisticated hunt". Well I guess if you've got no job and lots of time on you're hands go ahead and waste it!
J L	{2 votes}	June 22nd, 2006
Come out come out where ever you are!     The Montreal Manhunt sounds like a lot of fun! It seems like a pretty fun, fast-paced way to get to know the city too. You really have to strategize. Is it better to run or to hide? It reminds me of a schoolyard game that I used to play when I was in elementary school. I think that the popularity of this Manhunt really goes to show that we are all kids at heart. I read somewhere that there are gameboard clubs popping up all over the place. For me, playing a game of Scattergories or Clue brings me back to some fun childhood days. Playing Manhunt sounds like it would do the same. Happy hunting!
Reena Tabing	{1 vote}	June 22nd, 2006
Urban Hide and Seek     Wow, I've never seen these manhunt players before in the Plateau, but if I eventually do I'll at least know what their orange arm bands signify! This game does sounds fun, better than the typical hide and seek game played by kids inside a house. There must be so many places to hide within a neighborhood, I'm actually curious about the related rules.
Sophie Verville	{4 votes}	June 22nd, 2006
Geocaching Better Sport     I don't see how Manhunt is that different from Hide and Seek which we were all familiar with when we grew up. The main difference is that you mostly have strangers in the first and friends in the second. For lonely single people Manhunt provides opportunities to socialize with others. As an outdoor sport geocaching where you try to find hidden treasure using a GPS device is far more exciting than Manhunt and requires lots of ingenuity since there are no self-imposed boundaries. Yet in all these sports you enjoy the great outdoors and get your daily dose of exercise.
Stephen Talko	{4 votes}	June 22nd, 2006

Write your comment! please follow these guidelines

Information requested in blue will remain confidential   [privacy policy] Please indicate your real first and last names.

First name :

Last name :

Your email :

Confirm your email :

Title of your comment (max. 150 characters)   Your comment (max. 2000 characters)  characters remaining       LIMIT PER PERSON : one comment per article per member. Thank you. Your comment will be read by our approval team and, if it is approved, will be posted on the website within 24 hours. It could also be published, along with your name, in the printed version of Hour magazine and on any of our partner websites. In order to present the highest quality of comments, Hour reserves the right to refuse certain submissions. Any plagiarism will entail the entire removal of the member’s profile. Hour is not responsible for the opinions expressed by the members.