The Blair Witch Project changed the landscape of horror movies after its 1999 release, and brought audiences into the story through the found footage style filming. Many subsequent movies have tried to emulate it, but Blair Witch is still beloved by horror fans. It's no surprise that games would want to capitalize on this fan-base, but Hunt A Killer and Lionsgate Games dive into the Blair Witch story in a surprising way -- with puzzles.
The Blair Witch tabletop experience is an at-home puzzle adventure that asks players to help solve the disappearance of Liam Kent, who's gone missing from Burkittsville, home of the fabled Blair Witch and the events of the original movie. Piecing together timelines and alibis, deciphering cryptic clues and getting to know the inhabitants of Burkittsville allow the players to participate in a mystery while immersing themselves in the spooky atmosphere of the haunted town.
Part of what makes the Blair Witch experience so compelling is that many of the puzzles and clues are all physical objects that players can manipulate and combine in order to find a solution. Each mailing also makes use of digital tools to provide real-time feedback and augment the physical clues. The final multimedia result is deeply satisfying to dive into and just as immersive as the movie's found-footage style.
Rigorous code-breaking and complex puzzle-solving seems at first glance like a strange way to engage in the horror of the Blair Witch universe. But the mystery at the heart of the movie actually transfers well into the escape-room-esque tabletop experience. While the stakes don't seem quite as high, and the puzzles are certainly safer than a recorded exploration of the woods, the mystery genre is a great transition for the story.
If some of the aesthetic of a dark night deep in the woods of Burkittsville is lost in this new medium, the puzzles do a good job of trying to reintroduce the creepiness through attentive writing. Clues range from newspaper and magazine clippings to fake social media posts, sometimes including hand-written marginalia to set the mood even more.
The at-home puzzle experience is also perfect for lockdown. Blair Witch makes a perfect solo journey for the ardent puzzle solver, but also a great small group activity for quarantine pods or even date night.
Blair Witch is Hunt A Killer's first foray into the horror genre. The company specializes in puzzle experiences that ask users to help hunt down a killer, as the name implies. The translation from their normal murder-mystery to something more spooky was aided by working with Lionsgate Games, who published the 2019 Blair Witch video game. The Hunt A Killer Blair Witch puzzle game is an unexpected but effective interpretation of a genre classic, bringing the horror of the woods into the living room for a night of codes and mystery.