How to Play Signal Hunt: Beginner Guide

What is Signal Hunt?

Signal Hunt is a team search contest on a hidden 8×8 grid. Your side scans for the other team's concealed beacons while they search for yours. A successful find awards two points, and the first team to locate every opposing beacon wins immediately. Otherwise, the score after 90 seconds decides the result; a tie can continue for up to 15 seconds before a draw.

The number of hidden beacons grows with the format: five in 1v1, seven in 3v3 and nine in 5v5. Your team shares the beacons it has found. A scan's heat-distance clue goes to the scanner, so in a human team you can tell teammates where the nearest unfound signal lies.

Turn a distance clue into a search area

Click or tap a grid cell to scan it. A scan reports a distance to the nearest unfound opposing beacon. This is a grid-step distance: moving one cell horizontally or vertically changes it by one, while a diagonal move changes both coordinates. A smaller number means your next search should stay nearby.

For example, if a scan reports a distance of two, the nearest remaining beacon lies two horizontal/vertical steps away in total. Test cells on that small diamond rather than another random corner. If the number becomes one, check adjacent cells. After a find, the clue can point to a different remaining beacon, so do not keep searching around an already discovered signal.

Scans have a short cooldown. Use it to read the last clue and choose the next square deliberately. In a team mode, split the board into regions so several players do not spend their actions testing the same empty cell.

Use skills to make information count

Pick three skills before entering the match, then activate them with Q, E and R or the matching touch buttons.

Echo widens your next scan to the selected cell and its neighboring cells. It can find more than one beacon in that area, making a strong clue more valuable.
Surge shortens the action wait briefly, letting you follow up a clue sooner.
Jam slows an opponent's action tempo and suppresses an Echo bonus while active. Ward blocks one Jam; Cleanse removes it and adds brief protection.
Phase can ready a scan action. Use it when a key clue arrives while your normal scan is cooling down.

Echo, Surge and Cleanse is a balanced starting choice: wider discovery, quicker follow-up and a counter to Jam. Echo works best when you already have a clue; using it on an arbitrary corner spends its advantage on a guess.

Coordinate the search

In 1v1, work systematically across the grid and remember which cells were tested. In 3v3 or 5v5, divide the board and share useful low distance clues. Discoveries are team-wide, but teammates cannot act on a clue they have not heard or inferred from the board.

The score is worth watching, yet a fast finish is possible: finding all rival beacons ends the round without waiting for the horn. If you are behind, a well placed Echo scan may reveal several signals. If ahead, keep closing the remaining search area instead of repeating known empty cells.

Play people, bots or invited friends

Play Bots starts an unranked match immediately with labelled AI in the open seats. Instant Match searches for people, then adds AI after a short wait if needed. Human Only waits for a full human field. The same 1v1, 3v3 and 5v5 formats are available in each mode.

For a private contest, use Invite friends and share the link. Friends can choose Alpha or Beta. When the group is ready, the host can fill unoccupied seats with bots. Bots use their own scan clues and the same scan and skill cooldowns as people.

Start with a scan that covers an unexplored region, use its distance to narrow the next choice, and reserve Echo for a small plausible cluster. Play Signal Hunt to try the search.