theHunter games play as first-person hunting games that recreate hunting wild animals in a manner as realistic as possible. The initial setting is on an open world island based on various locations, including the islands and surroundings of Washington state in the United States, Australian Outback, French Alps and more. It features five huntable animal types whitetail deer, european rabbit, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe hare and pheasant. The game is fully playable for no charge.
To play the player must first create a character on the game's website, which includes social networking tools and messaging capabilities to allow players to connect and share in-game experiences. Creating a character requires selecting an avatar from a pool of unique faces, and adding a unique name. Once a character is created and the tutorial completed, the player can hunt freely, activate missions and earn one of two types of in-game currency called gm$. Completing the first 3 whitetail deer missions unlocks further missions from other animals in the game.
Players must use natural cover to avoid detection by the animals in the game. Whitetail deer, European rabbit, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe hare and pheasant may be hunted for free, while mule deer, blacktail, Roosevelt elk, turkey, coyote, feral hog, black bear, moose, European wild boar, roe deer, red deer, red fox, brown bear, mallard, Canada goose, reindeer, alpine ibex, red kangaroo, bison, Sitka deer, snowshoe hare, gadwall, northern pintail, American black duck, polar bear, willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan, white-tailed ptarmigan, Bighorn sheep, Rocky Mountain elk and grizzly bear can be hunted by subscribers, or free users via the Free Rotation function added some time in 2016, each animal species reacts to different stimuli in different ways. Scent detection for the quadrupeds is their keenest sense, which means the player has to be aware of wind direction or the animal might smell the player's scent and run off. Players must also pay careful attention to the soundscape, listening for subtle signals that indicate the presence of animals in the locality.[4]
The core gameplay revolves around tracking and harvesting (killing) animals with the weapons provided, although a digital camera is also provided for those who do not wish to shoot with a gun or a bow. Animal tracks can be found and identified with the "Huntermate", an in-game GPS-like device that identifies tracks, scat, rooting, bedding, blood trails, and animal calls and grunts. To hunt certain species, theHunter requires the player to utilise the correct weapon for each hunt. All bows are considered ethical for all species while rifles, guns and shotguns of different calibre must be selected according to the animal the player will hunt. Players that break this rule will not be given credit for their efforts and will receive a stern email from Doc, the warden of all the Evergreen Hunting Reserves.
Hunting areas added since May 2011 are: Settler Creeks (rugged North American mountain forest with abandoned homesteads); Redfeather Falls (rough Canadian mountains and swamps); Hirschfelden (German highland farms and forests); Hemmeldal (Northern Swedish snowy mountains, swamps and icy lakes), which is also the first reserve to allow hunting during snowfall; Rougarou Bayou (Southern United States); Val des Bois (rugged mountains, meadows and woods in the Alps), Bushranger's Run (dry, rocky and sandy Australian Outback), Whiterime Ridge (chilly arctic landscape surrounded by high mountains and icefields), Timbergold Trails (Rocky Mountains-inspired Reserve), and Piccabeen Bay (Australian tropics-inspired reserve). Subscribers can choose to start anywhere in these hunting areas (provided they have a tent, otherwise a hunting lodge can be chosen to start in a list of two or three in each reserve), and at any time of day, between 5 AM and 6 PM.
