# Manhunter Series <small style="color: gray">Last updated: May 13, 2026</small> ## Overview The Manhunter series is a two-game post-apocalyptic science-fiction adventure series developed by **Evryware** (the husband-wife-and-sister team of Dave Murry, Barry Murry, and Dee Dee Murry) and published by Sierra On-Line in 1988 and 1989.[^ref-1] The series is one of Sierra's darkest and most thematically unusual properties — set on Earth after an alien race called the Orbs has subjugated humanity, the player is a "Manhunter" forced to investigate other humans on behalf of the alien overlords, with a heavy ambient dread of authoritarianism and resistance.[^ref-2] The series is unusual within the Sierra catalog for three reasons: 1. **Not Sierra-developed** — Evryware was an external developer; Sierra was strictly the publisher. This makes Manhunter one of the small set of Sierra Published-lineage adventure games in the vault. 2. **Wordless protagonist** — the playable character ("Manhunter") never speaks; the entire narrative is conveyed through screens of investigation footage, environmental detail, and the third-person tracker-device UI. 3. **Originally a planned trilogy** — *Manhunter 3* was announced at the end of *Manhunter: San Francisco* (a cliffhanger ending leading to "Manhunter: Three") but was never developed. See [[CXL - Manhunter 3]] for the cancelled-entry documentation. ## Series Timeline | Year | Title | Designer | Engine | Setting | |------|-------|----------|--------|---------| | 1988 | [[1988 - Manhunter - New York\|Manhunter: New York]] | Dave Murry, Barry Murry, Dee Dee Murry | AGI v2 | Post-Orb-invasion New York City, 2004 | | 1989 | [[1989 - Manhunter - San Francisco\|Manhunter: San Francisco]] | Dave Murry, Barry Murry, Dee Dee Murry | AGI v3 | Post-invasion San Francisco, 2004+ | | (Cancelled) | [[CXL - Manhunter 3\|Manhunter 3]] | Murry family (pitched) | — | Final-confrontation setting unannounced | ## Manhunter: New York (1988) Set in 2004, two years after the alien Orbs have invaded Earth and pacified humanity. The player is forced by the Orbs to be a "Manhunter" — an investigator who must track down other humans suspected of rebellion. The game's signature mechanic: a tracking device the Manhunter wears displays the routes and locations of suspected humans, and the player follows these traces to crime scenes, then investigates evidence.[^ref-3] **Design innovations:** - **No spoken dialog** — Manhunter has no voice; narrative communicated entirely through investigation interfaces, environmental detail, and the supplementary game manual ("Manhunter's Manual"), which contained essential backstory. - **Tracker-device UI** — Players spent significant time in a route-tracing minigame, plotting paths across maps of NYC. - **Real NYC landmarks** as locations — Statue of Liberty, Central Park, etc., reimagined as Orb-occupied territory. - **Action sequences** — Brief reflex-based mini-games (chase scenes) interspersed with investigation.[^ref-4] **Reception:** Strong critical reception. Computer Gaming World's Charles Ardai called it "one of the most original adventure games in years." Won several "Adventure of the Year" mentions. Sold respectably but was not a Sierra mega-hit.[^ref-5] ## Manhunter: San Francisco (1989) Direct sequel set immediately after *Manhunter: New York*. The protagonist has fled NYC to San Francisco, now tracking other humans on the West Coast while pursuing the larger rebellion against the Orbs. **Design evolution:** - **Refined investigation UI** — AGI v3 engine improvements allowed more detailed crime-scene examination. - **More action sequences** — including a memorable chase across the Golden Gate Bridge. - **Branching paths** — multiple solutions to some investigations. - **Cliffhanger ending** — set up the cancelled *Manhunter 3*.[^ref-6] **Reception:** Generally positive but not as widely celebrated as the first entry. Critics felt it lacked the original's surprise factor, though the chase sequences and improved investigation puzzles were praised.[^ref-7] ## Manhunter 3 (Cancelled) A third entry was strongly implied by *Manhunter: San Francisco*'s ending. Various 1990s and 2000s rumors indicated the Murry team had pitched a final entry to Sierra but the project was never green-lit, likely due to the Manhunter games' modest commercial performance relative to King's Quest / Space Quest / Police Quest tentpoles.[^ref-8] No design documents have publicly surfaced for *Manhunter 3*. See [[CXL - Manhunter 3]] for the cancelled-entry page. ## Series Design Identity Across both shipped games: 1. **Wordless investigation protagonist** — Manhunter has no spoken dialog and is rarely seen on screen. 2. **Tracker-device gameplay loop** — Trace humans → investigate scenes → solve crime → submit findings. 3. **Authoritarian-dystopia atmosphere** — Orb-occupied USA as backdrop; rebellion themes; moral ambiguity (the player is technically a collaborator). 4. **Manual-based backstory** — Essential plot context lived outside the game in the printed manual. 5. **Real-location settings** — Manhattan, San Francisco bridges and landmarks reimagined post-apocalyptically. ## Legacy The Manhunter series occupies a distinctive niche in Sierra's catalog as the darkest and most thematically subversive titles published by the company in the AGI era. Influence is visible in subsequent investigation-genre games (the *L.A. Noire* lineage broadly traces the "detective tracks suspects on a map" formula back to Manhunter, though not always with direct attribution).[^ref-9] The series is currently available digitally on GOG.com as part of the Sierra Adventure Pack bundle.[^ref-10] ScummVM supports both titles via its AGI engine implementation. ## See Also - [[Evryware]] — Developer (small studio profile) - [[CXL - Manhunter 3]] — Cancelled third entry - [[Adventure Game Interpreter]] — AGI v2/v3 engine used - [[1988 - Manhunter - New York]], [[1989 - Manhunter - San Francisco]] — Individual game pages - [[Sierra On-Line]] — Publisher ## References [^ref-1]: [Wikipedia — Manhunter series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_(video_game_series)) — Series overview [^ref-2]: [MobyGames — Manhunter group](https://www.mobygames.com/group/manhunter/) — Catalog [^ref-3]: [Wikipedia — Manhunter: New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter:_New_York) — Game-mechanics overview [^ref-4]: [Adventure Classic Gaming — Manhunter: New York review](http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/manhunter_new_york/) — Design analysis [^ref-5]: [Computer Gaming World — Manhunter review (1988)](http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1988) — Charles Ardai review [^ref-6]: [Wikipedia — Manhunter: San Francisco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter:_San_Francisco) — Sequel overview [^ref-7]: [Adventure Classic Gaming — Manhunter: San Francisco review](http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/manhunter_san_francisco/) — Sequel analysis [^ref-8]: [Sierra Gamers — Manhunter retrospective](https://www.sierragamers.com) — Cancellation context [^ref-9]: [Hardcore Gaming 101 — Manhunter](http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/manhunter/) — Series retrospective [^ref-10]: [GOG.com — Sierra Adventure Pack](https://www.gog.com/en/games?developers=sierra-on-line) — Current commercial availability [^ref-11]: [MobyGames — Evryware](https://www.mobygames.com/company/2014/evryware/) — Developer profile [^ref-12]: [The Digital Antiquarian — AGI-era adventures](https://www.filfre.net) — Era context [^ref-13]: [Sierra Chest — Manhunter](https://www.sierrachest.com/index.php?a=games&fld=series&id=manhunter) — Sierra Chest catalog [^ref-14]: [PCGamingWiki — Manhunter](https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Manhunter:_New_York) — Technical reference [^ref-15]: [ScummVM Wiki — Manhunter AGI support](https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php?title=AGI) — Modern preservation