Quickstart Guide

Overview

Welcome to Hide And Seek! Let’s cut to the chase; this is a long rulebook. But we promise that ultimately, this game is pretty simple. The basic gameplay can be summed up in five steps:

1. One player uses public transit to get to a hiding spot.
2. The other players work together to find them by asking questions about their location, chosen from our six question categories.
3. Each time the hider answers a question, they draw cards from the hider deck. These cards give them advantages in the game.
4. Once the hider is found by the seekers, another player hides.
5. At the end, whoever hid the longest wins.

While the overall structure is simple, there’s a bit more you’ll need to know before playing. Starting with:

Choosing Game Size

Hide and Seek is configured to be played at three different scales: small, medium, or large. These sizes have slightly different rules designed to work best with your map’s size and complexity. Before you do any further set up, you’ll need to determine whether you’d like to play a small, medium, or large game of Hide and Seek.

The other major decision that will need to be made concerning game length is whether you want to add additional rounds. In the simplest configuration of the game, each player/team hides a single time—once everyone has had a chance to hide, the longest hiding time wins. We consider hiding once per player to be the default version of the game, and it’s what we recommend unless you are willing to commit significantly more time to playing. If you do choose to add additional rounds, hiding time is not counted cumulatively—it is only a player’s best time that counts.

Creating Teams

Generally, we do not recommend playing with more than four players. If you do want to play with more than four players, we would suggest grouping some players into teams. These teams (of two or more) could effectively act as a single player, all hiding together when it is their turn to hide. There may be some unforeseen awkwardness with how to answer certain questions that are intended for a single player, which will need to be resolved on a case-by-case basis. Teams are also recommended when playing with younger players, or in any context where a hider would feel unsafe or uncomfortable being alone for an extended period of time.

Setting Your Map

After you have chosen a game size and assembled your players, you’ll need to set up your game map. This involves choosing a transit system and establishing map borders. (For more information on setting up your map, see Setting Up Your Map.)

Round Start

At the start of each round, one player/team will become the hider, while the remaining players will band together to play as that round’s seekers. The order in which each player hides should be determined, at random, before the game begins.

While all players are still at the starting location—which can be anywhere within the game map—there are a few items to be distributed. The hider receives the hider deck, and the seekers take the investigation book. We also recommend each side takes a rulebook to reference in case there is need for clarification or if any rules discrepancies arise. Optionally, the seekers might also choose to print out a map of their game area so that they can mark it as they play, and carry writing implements to take notes. Both sides should also keep at least two dice on them at all times, as these are used for various different things throughout the game.

Each round begins with a hiding period. During this time, the hider can use their legs and public transit to travel to any transit station within the map’s boundaries. Once the hiding period has concluded, the hider must stay within their hiding zone for the rest of the round. The length of the hiding period is determined by game size:

Lastly, all seekers should make sure to turn on some form of tracker during this period to ensure that the hider can follow their movements throughout the round. You can use real GPS Trackers if you happen to have them, but the easiest option for most people is to download one of the many free smartphone apps that allow other phones to track your phone’s location. (We use Apple’s “Find My” app, but Google Maps also allows for live location sharing if any players are using Android phones.)

Hiding Zones

At the end of the hiding period, the hider must be at a transit station/stop that is included in the game’s map—this now acts as the center of their hiding zone. The hiding zone extends a certain distance in all directions from the transit station, forming a circle within which the hider may move freely until the end game begins. For small and medium games, the hiding zone extends 500 m from the transit station; for large games, the hiding zone extends 1 km from the transit station. (For more information on hiding zones and hiding spots, see Hiding.)

Asking Questions

In order to gather information about the hider’s location, the seekers will have to ask questions from the investigation book. These questions can be asked at any time, as long as the previous question has been answered, and must be answered truthfully by the hider within 5 minutes, with the exception of photo questions, which must be answered within 10 minutes in small and medium games, and 20 minutes in large games. We ask hiders to make a good faith effort to answer all questions in the allotted time. However, if questions are not answered in the allowed time window, the hider’s time is paused until the question is answered, and the hider will receive no cards in exchange for answering.

After a question has been answered, the hider may draw and keep a certain number of cards from the hider deck, indicated in the investigation book, depending on the category of question asked. (For more information on asking questions, see Seeking.)

Once a question has been asked, it cannot be asked again unless the seekers choose to pay its cost twice. So, for example, a question that would typically allow a hider to draw 3 cards, keep 1 would now allow a hider to draw 3, keep 1, and keep 1 again (importantly: hiders cannot draw 6 and keep 2, they must draw 3 and pull 1 two separate times, in this example.) Should seekers want to ask a question a third time, its cost would be triple; a fourth time, the cost quadrupled, and so on.

As you gather information about the hider’s location, you can use the internet for research to develop your theories. The only prohibited source of information is Google Street View; everything else is fair game.

The Hider Deck

The hider deck contains three types of cards that the hider can use to their advantage: time bonus cards, powerup cards, and curse cards. Cards are drawn after a question is answered, and kept in the hider’s hand until they are played or discarded into the discard pile. The hider can keep 6 cards in their hand at a time (unless their hand size has been expanded through a powerup.) If, at any point, the hider has exceeded their hand limit, they must immediately play or discard cards until they only have 6 cards remaining. (For more information on the hider deck, see The Hider Deck.)

The End Game

Once the seekers have entered the hider’s hiding zone—and are no longer on a mode of transit—the end game will begin. At this point, the hider may no longer move freely; they must stay put in a publicly accessible hiding spot until they are found. (For more information on permissible hiding spots, see Hiding Spots.) During the end game, some questions may be impossible to answer due to restrictions on the hider’s movement. For example, a photo question that would require the hider to take a photo from the train station, when they are not at the train station, would not be possible. In these cases, “I cannot answer the question” is considered a valid answer, and the hider would still pull a card. All questions other than photo questions that must be taken from a particular location should be possible to answer during the end game.

Rotating Rounds

The hider is considered found once the seekers are within 2 meters of them and have spotted them. If the seekers are near the hider but haven’t yet identified them, then the hider hasn’t been caught. At this point, the hider’s clock is stopped, and all time bonus cards currently in the hider’s hand are added to their time total.

After the hider is caught, the new hider is permitted up to 10 minutes for any final planning before their hiding period begins. During this time, the new seekers should reshuffle all cards back into the deck, and hand it off to the new hider, turn on their trackers, exchange the investigation book, and ensure that the new hider’s tracker is turned off. They will begin the next round from the last hider’s hiding spot.

After each player has completed the predetermined number of hiding rounds, the player with the longest single hiding run is declared the winner.