NederlandsPlan your game
Back to the blog
Rules

Tag game rules, and how to play it as adults

Everyone knows tag from the schoolyard. Yet the rules are never quite the same anywhere. Here are the basics, the best-known variants and a way to play it as adults, with a whole city as the playing field.

The basic rules

  • One player is it. They try to touch someone else.
  • Whoever gets tagged becomes it and says so out loud.
  • No tagging straight back. Count to three or walk away first.
  • Agree beforehand where the playing field ends.

Well-known variants

  • Freeze tag: whoever is tagged stands still until someone frees them.
  • Chain tag: whoever is tagged joins hands with the tagger.
  • Base: a safe spot where you cannot be tagged, but only for a short while.
  • Shadow tag: you tag someone by stepping on their shadow.

Who starts as it?

In the schoolyard with a counting rhyme, as adults preferably fair. Have everyone put a finger on one phone and let chance pick. That is how Swasi works, the draw that starts a game of Tikkertje.

Tag for adults

Running around a field gets old in ten minutes. So make the playing field bigger, and give everyone a goal besides running away. In Tikkertje you play in your own city with 2 to 8 players, each on their own phone. You conquer neighbourhoods with photo and video missions, and one player is the tagger.

The difference with the schoolyard: you cannot see the tagger coming. Only the tagger sees where the others are, and as soon as the role passes on, those positions vanish from their screen. Why it works like that is in why only the tagger can see you. Want to organise it yourself? Read how to organise a city game.

Rather have a real chase? Read how to play a Hunted-style game with friends. Curious how it feels? Play a short round in your browser on the home page.

Finished reading? Then you may claim it.

Read next

RulesWhy only the tagger can see youIn Tikkertje, only the tagger sees positions. Here is why the most important rule of this city game is also a privacy rule.RulesSwasi: how to pick the first taggerWho starts as the tagger? With Swasi, everyone puts a finger on one phone and the draw decides. Here is how it works.OrganisingHow to organise a city gameOrganising a city game for your friends? From playing field and missions to rules and end time: a step-by-step plan that works.