该剧根据1996年前FBI探员约翰·道格拉斯和马克·欧夏克的著作《心理神探：美国联邦调查局系列犯罪破案揭秘》（MindHunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit）改编。退休后的道格拉斯深入研究犯罪心理学，美剧《汉尼拔》和《犯罪心理》中的角色刻画也参考了书中的很多案例。

In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.