Hide-and-seek

For other uses, see Hide and Seek.

Hide and seek

Three children playing "hide and seek" in a forest
Players	2 or more
Setup time	1 minute
Playing time	no limit
Chance	Low
Age range	4 and up
Skills	Running, Hiding, Observation

Hide and seek (sometimes also called hide and go seek) is a popular tag variant in which one or more players search for the other players. Numerous variants of the game occur worldwide.

It is best played in areas with lots of potential hiding spots, such as a forest or a large house.

The game starts with all players in a central location. One player is given the designation of "it". There are two portions to the game: the hiding - all the players, except "it", locate a place in which to hide, and the seeking - "it" attempts to locate at least one of the players. The overall objective is to not be discovered by "it".

The hiding portion of the game begins with "it" using some method to avoid seeing the other players (covering eyes, turning away from the direction of the players, etc.), while counting out loud for a predetermined number of seconds, often with the aid of a word that takes about one second to say (e.g., "one-alligator, two-alligator . . ." or "one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi . . ."). Meanwhile, the other players scatter to locate a place to hide. When the counting is completed "it" usually announces the start of the seeking portion by shouting a phrase such as "Ready or not, here I come!". "It" then begins a search for the hiding players. In some variations players may move to other hiding spots while "it" isn't looking, and those who can remain hidden the longest are considered the best players. The next game's "it" is usually the first player to be found. Alternatively, the players can agree that the last person to be discovered will become the next "it".

Variants

• Hiding players are "tagged" simply by being spotted by "it,"
• In some variants, if the hiding player makes it safely "home" (typically to a gatepost), they can no longer be caught. In this case, the first or last person home is the next "it", depending on local rules. If nobody makes it home "it" remains the same. This variant was known in some parts of southern England as Tin Can Alley.

For instance, in a typical version of Hide-and-Go-Seek (as played in the US Midwest) children playing the game chose a tree, a gatepost or the edge of a wall as "Home," and selected one player as "It". He (or she) put his head on his arm at Home, to cover his eyes; and began to count loudly to some limit such as 25, giving the others some 25 seconds in which to hide "Out" in the general vicinity. He then announced, "Ready or not, here I come!", and tried to locate an Out to race Home. An Out who could race Home first, was "Home Free"; he then waited at Home for the game to end while the player who was It tried to locate another Out. If the player who was It won the race Home, the Out who lost this race became It. They then called, "All 'e, all 'e Outs In Free!" (or "oly-oly-oxen free") to bring the rest of the players Home, and restart the game with the new It; or call off the game for the day.

A player hiding, although not very well.

• Hide and Go Get It

This is similar to tag except there are usually two teams consisting of boys and girls. Usually played with teenagers, one team hides and the other counts in the usual fashion. Either the boys or the girls can be "It". Upon finding someone, "It" proceeds to kiss the Hidee.

• An adult-child hide and seek is usually played as a two person game, involving one adult searching for a single hidden child. Upon finding the child, the adult will usually engage in some form of intimate activity such as hugging or tickling the child. The adult may give up, where the child then is considered "the winner" but does not receive a hug or a tickling. In such games, the child usually expects to be found and looks forward to the physical activity at the end of the game.
• A game similar to hide and seek, but played with babies, is called peekaboo (peek a boo). In this game the adult hides their face, pops back into the baby's view, and says - to the baby's amusement - Peekaboo! I see you!.

"It" may give up, of course, or the game may have some form of "game over" rule. A common way of doing this is to shout "Alley, alley, oxen free!" or "Ollie, Ollie, oxen free!" – probably a corruption of "All ye, all ye, oxen free! (see discussion)" or the German "Alle, alle auch sind frei", (literally, "Everyone, everyone also is free"). Another variant in the US Midwest is "Ollie, Ollie, in come free". Charles Wilson wrote: “When I was growing up in the American South we actually said, ‘All ye all ye outs in free’ when playing hide-and-seek (although we called it ‘hide-and-go-seek’).”

Block

In the game of block all the players start at a 'base' (usually a lamp post) which the finder counts against. From here the players run and hide then when the count is over the finder has to spot them. Unlike in 'regular' hide and seek the finder simply has to spot the other players- when he has spotted one he must hit the base and say that he has spotted them in a certain location. What really makes the game different; however, is that the hiders have a chance to save themselves via touching the base and shouting block before the finder can get there and say that they have been spotted—the game is not based purely around finding the best hiding place but finding a hiding place from which the base can quickly be reached.

Sardines

In the variant known as sardines, only one player hides while all the rest count. All the counting players then split up and each searches for the one player hiding. When a searcher finds the hiding player, they join in hiding in the same hiding place. The game is over when the last player finds all the others. They are the loser of the game and generally the next one to hide (although sometimes this role is given to the first to have found the original hiding place). Sardines is often played in the dark (outside or in the gym).

Ghost In The Graveyard

Similar to Sardines in that one player (the ghost) hides while the others count. When the hiding player is found, the finder yells 'Ghost!' to alert the other finders. The finders now attempt to run back to the base before being tagged by the ghost. The person tagged is now the ghost for the next round. If no one is tagged the ghost must hide again in successive rounds until someone is tagged.

Zombie

A seasonal variation of this is a game played during Autumn and Winter called "Zombie!". This is normally played after dark or during late evening. A player will be elected to be the Zombie who is the finder. The zombie will pretend to be mad/insane and try to find the hiders as quietly as possible. The object of the game is to scare the hiders by getting as close to them as possible then jumping out on them and shouting "Zombie!" and frighten them as much as possible. If you make the hiders scream and bolt from the hiding place they are considered caught. If the Zombie can actually physically catch the hider without being seen this is considered a perfect catch! The person caught will then become part of the Zombie's Army. There is also reverse Zombie where the Zombie hides and must try to catch each of the seekers as they try to find him/her individually by shouting "Zombie!", once caught they become Zombies as well. This is ideally played near Halloween, and the more bizarre and scary the Zombies behaviour, the better.

Aganta

A variation found in some small villages and cities in Greece. "It" is not an individual, but a whole group, which tries to find the other group. In a further complication, there is no limit on the hiding spots, except that they must not be in places the other team can't enter by itself. Thus going inside one's house is not permitted, but simply jumping a fence to get inside a garden is.

Fox off

Fox off is a British game where there are two teams. Although, when one of the hiders are found, they have to run to den without getting touched. If they make it successfully, they stay there while the seeker looks for the others. If there are only 3 players (1 seeking, 2 hiding) then when one of the hiders successfully makes it to den, the other one is 'it'. The first one to be caught is then it.

Sometimes, the seeker will count to forty before going out to look for the others, who, when they know the seeker is looking, have to run to the 'home' spot. When they reach it, they must touch it and shout '40-40 home!' and as such, this variant is known as '40-40'. Of course, if the seeker physically catches the players before they reach the 'home', then the player is 'it'.

Gang

Gang or gang tiggy is a variant played where a player is appointed 'it' (usually selected by a traditional song or chant where on each syllable the singer points to a different player in sequence including themselves. when the song ends the last player pointed to is selected.)

The player who is 'it' will attempt to find or tag the other players. When another player is tagged , both they and the original tagger will be "it". This continues until all players are "it", the last player usually having some cachet as the winner. This game is still popular in Australian Schools.

Brandy

A variant of hide and seek where a player must be hit by a thrown tennis ball to be 'it'. The player who was successfully hit becomes 'it', retrieves the tennis ball and the game continues. It generally favours a more running style of game, though some player employ hiding as a strategy.

Variants on "Ready or not..."

• In some parts of Israel, the seeker says the Hebrew equivalent of the English "No one behind me, no one in front of me"