Hide-and-seek

For other uses, see Hide and Seek (disambiguation).

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	no limit
Skills	Running, Hunting, Tracking, Hiding, Observation

Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek (or, in Scotland, hidey) is a variant of the game tag, in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more "seekers". Numerous variants of the game can be found worldwide.

Gameplay

The game starts with all players in a central location, indoors or out. One player is given the designation of "it". There are two portions to the game: the hiding, where all the players except "it" locate a place in which to hide, and the seeking, where "it" attempts to locate as many of the players as possible. The overall objective is to remain undiscovered by "it".

The hiding portion of the game begins with "it" using a method to avoid seeing the other players hiding, and 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..."). During the count, other players locate a place to hide. When the counting is completed, the "it" player 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.

When all players have been found or caught, 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 or tagged will become the next "it".

Variants

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 to be the best players.

In a more active variant, hide and seek can be combined with the game of tag. Instead of "it" simply spotting players, he or she has to tag them instead to get them out. Hiders can make a dash for 'Home Base', which is usually a landmark next to where whoever is "it" counts off. Touching the base area makes a hider safe, and the aim of the game is to touch base without being tagged.

Another form similar to the above game involves tagged players becoming another "it". Rather than having a base, the aim is simply to survive as long as possible without being tagged, and the last one to not be tagged is the winner.

A derivative game is called Sardines. In this variant, only one person hides and the others must then find the person that's hiding and hide with them. The last person to find the group that's hiding is the loser. If playing indoors, turning the lights off may make it easier to hide large groups of people. A. M. Burrage calls this version of the game 'Smee' in his 1931 ghost story of the same name.