Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Survive Victorian robot hunters on a procedurally generated island.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted (also known as Madam, You Are Being Hunted) is an open-world survival horror stealth game from Big Robot, available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Players must evade robotic Hunters—machines dressed as Victorian gentlemen—while searching a procedurally generated island for food, weapons, and parts of a broken machine. Collecting all the parts allows escape, but the robots guard any part they find with sentries. The Hunters use dogs and balloons to track the player.
The game features nine robot types introduced in the February update: the upper-class Hunter, middle-class Squire, lower-class Poacher, Dogs, Scarecrows, Bog Monster, Balloons, Riders (mechanical-horse-riding fox-hunters), and the Landowner, a huge aristocratic robot.
Development began six months before a November 2012 Kickstarter campaign, which sought £40,000 and raised £92,551. This fell short of the £100,000 needed for character customization, though Big Robot said they would try to include some aspects. Founder Jim Rossignol described the goal as making a game that felt "desperate and scary, but without being straight-faced," and "kitschy but with a genuine underlying threat." The team focused on capturing the bleak, frightening qualities of the British landscape and emphasized audio design, which Rossignol said players might not notice explicitly but would benefit from. In May 2013, gameplay videos showed newly added mountain biomes—remote, rocky areas without lootable buildings. After years without updates, Big Robot worked with Dutch studio Den of Thieves Games to release version 1.5 in September 2021, which included bug fixes, engine upgrades, and a revived multiplayer mode. A remastered "Reinvented Edition" was announced for the Nintendo Switch but, as of 2025, has not been released.
Marketing included two gameplay videos in April 2013, an alpha version for Kickstarter backers and purchasers on Steam and the Humble Store on 19 August 2013, and a cross-promotional song "Being Hunted" by chap hop artist Professor Elemental released on 1 May 2014. Around 900 backers had early access to the alpha.
According to Metacritic, the game received mixed reviews.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Sir, You Are Being Hunted
- Developer
- Big Robot
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
- Released
- 1 May 2014
- Genre
- Survival horror, stealth
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Designer
- Jim Rossignol
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game was developed by Big Robot, founded by Jim Rossignol. After six months of development, a Kickstarter campaign launched in November 2012 with a £40,000 goal, ultimately raising £92,551 by December—short of the £100,000 stretch goal that would have enabled character creation and customization. Big Robot stated they would endeavor to include some aspects of that feature. Rossignol described the team's aim as making a game that was 'desperate and scary, but without being straight-faced' and 'kitschy but with a genuine underlying threat.' The team focused heavily on audio, which Rossignol called 'one of those differences that people won't really notice explicitly while they are playing but they will get a lot back from it.' In May 2013, gameplay videos showcased newly added mountain biomes—remote, rocky areas away from lootable buildings. The game's enemies include nine AI robot models introduced in 'The February update': upper-class Hunter, middle-class Squire, lower-class Poacher, Dogs, Scarecrows, Bog Monster, Balloons, Riders (mechanical-horse riding fox-hunters), and the Landowner, a huge aristocratic robot. Players must scavenge towns and villages for food and weapons while collecting parts of an exploded machine to escape the island; if robots find a part, they set up sentries to defend it. The enemies use dogs and balloons to locate the player.
Reader's Guide
After years without updates, in September 2021 the game was updated to version 1.5 by the external Dutch game development studio Den of Thieves Games. This update brought bug fixes, engine upgrades, and a revival of the multiplayer mode, which had previously been broken. Alongside the update, a remastered 'Reinvented Edition' was announced for the Nintendo Switch, though as of 2025 it had not been released. The game received 'mixed' reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Its significance lies in its distinctive British Gothic aesthetic—Victorian-era robot hunters in a bleak, procedurally generated landscape—and its blend of survival, stealth, and horror elements. The Kickstarter campaign's success (more than doubling its goal) demonstrated interest in the concept, and the eventual community-driven revival via Den of Thieves Games extended the game's lifespan. The cross-promotion with chap hop artist Professor Elemental, who released the song 'Being Hunted' on 1 May 2014 coinciding with the game's release, further cemented its quirky cultural niche.
Did You Know?
- The game is alternatively titled Madam, You Are Being Hunted.
- Kickstarter backers raised £92,551, falling short of the £100,000 stretch goal for character creation.
- The version 1.5 update in September 2021 revived the previously broken multiplayer mode.
- Chap hop artist Professor Elemental released the song 'Being Hunted' as cross-promotion for the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sir, You Are Being Hunted?
It's an open-world survival-horror stealth game by Big Robot in which you're stranded on a procedurally generated island and must avoid Victorian-dressed robotic hunters while scavenging for food, weapons, and machine parts. The alpha shipped on 19 August 2013 and the title runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
What's the core gameplay loop in Sir, You Are Being Hunted?
You scavenge the island for resources and the scattered components of a broken escape machine, all while staying hidden from the Hunters. The robots deploy tracking dogs and balloons to sniff you out, and every part they locate gets locked behind sentries, so stealth, route planning, and resource management drive every session.
How do you actually win or escape in Sir, You Are Being Hunted?
Once you've collected every piece of the broken machine, you repair it and use it to leave the island. There's no scripted narrative finale—your 'ending' is simply getting off the procedurally generated island before the Hunters pin you down.
Who made Sir, You Are Being Hunted and how was it funded?
Big Robot developed the game and crowdfunded it on Kickstarter with an initial goal of £40,000, ultimately raising £92,551. A subsequent version 1.5 update was outsourced to an external Dutch studio called Den of Thieves Games.
What types of Hunters appear in Sir, You Are Being Hunted?
The February update introduced nine distinct robot classes, spanning upper-class to middle-class Victorian gentleman machines with different patrol behaviours. All of them use dogs and balloons to track the player and will station sentries around any machine part they happen to find.
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