Skull Hunt, week one: the torch as a weapon that lasts

Verdict: Skull Hunt is the darkest of the three arcade modes in HAUNTED: Are You Alone?. Your room goes black, skulls circle and dive at you, visible only in the beam of your torch. After a week, the mode has something the others lack: a second hand with its own job. Running light and weapon at the same time stays demanding. For players who like coordination: buy. If you want pure shooting, Grave Rush is the better pick.

Then vs now

On launch day, you knew the idea from Chapter IV, “The Hole”. A hole opens in the floor, skulls with burning fuse rings gather on a wall, and you hunt them in the dark with the torch.

After a week, the story scene has become an endless mode. Now it’s not about surprise but control: how long do you last when light, battery and aiming all count at once?

What shipped

The documented rules of Skull Hunt:

Darkness: The room goes black. Without light, you see only two faint eyes on a skull.
Two hands, two jobs: Torch on the left, revolver with laser dot on the right.
Freezing: Hold the beam on a skull and it freezes in mid-air.
Big skulls: They split into three.
Fuse skulls: From wave 4 they line up on a wall and explode when their countdown runs out.
Battery: The torch cuts out now and then. Shaking brings it back. A tutorial on the first run shows this.
Double points: Hit a skull mid-dive and it counts double.

Plus the shared arcade systems: combo up to ×8, wave bonus, three hearts, coins, top-5 high scores and the Bone Market.

What holds up after seven days

Freezing as a decision. The beam isn’t just light, it’s a weapon. A frozen skull is an easy target. But while you’re holding one skull, you can’t see the others. That trade-off is the core of the mode.

The dive bonus. Double points for hits mid-dive reward the opposite of freezing. You let the skull come and hit it in motion. Safe or risky? You have to decide again every round.

The battery. The shaking is simple and effective. The light goes out at the worst possible moment, and you have to shake the torch while something comes at you. After a week you know it happens. When, you still don’t.

Fuse skulls from wave 4. With the skulls on the wall, the mode gains a second front. You have to keep an eye on the wall while other skulls attack from the air.

What wears thin

One room, one light. Skull Hunt has no changing locations. Your room in black is the whole stage.
Few enemy types. Normal, big and fuse skulls are documented.
The scare fades. Two eyes in the dark land hard on day one, less so on day seven.

What’s missing

No details on left-handed setup. All that’s documented: torch left, revolver right.
No online leaderboards are documented.
No other weapons described for Skull Hunt; the revolver is the mode’s documented weapon.

Tips for week one

Don’t glue the light on. Freeze briefly, shoot, move on. Hold too long and you lose track.
Check the wall from wave 4. Fuse skulls have a countdown.
Practise the shake. The tutorial on the first run shows the motion. But do give yourself space, and keep the wrist strap on.
Put a real light on. The game is dark. For tracking, the Quest still needs light in the room.
Take breaks. Dark scenes and light changes are tiring. The start-up warning explicitly mentions dimmed lighting.

What to watch next

Whether Skull Hunt is the mode that keeps pushing longest in the month-one verdict. And whether an update brings new skull types. Nothing has been announced on that.

Buy, wait or skip?

Buy if you like coordination and want a mode that demands both hands. In the bundle at £3.99 (UK store, as of 10 October 2026), Skull Hunt is the most distinctive of the three modes. Wait if darkness and light changes bother you. Skip if the PEGI 18 warning applies to you, especially with epilepsy. Store page: HAUNTED: Are You Alone?

Launch Score

8.7 out of 10 for Skull Hunt after week one, as the editors’ opinion. The cleverest mechanic of the three modes, with real trade-offs every round. Marks off for limited variety in enemies and location.