Fourteen Games of Tag

AGAME OF TAG can be as basic or as complicated as you like: you can revel in the pure straightforwardness of one person chasing another, or liven things up by adding rules and strategy. Either way, tag requires no equipment, no court, no uniform—just someone willing to be It, and others willing to run as fast as it takes to avoid getting tagged and becoming It themselves. Here are fourteen ways of playing tag.

1. Blob Tag/Chinese Dragon Tag

In Blob Tag or Chinese Dragon Tag (also known as “chain tag,” “amoeba tag,” and “manhunt”), one person is It. But instead of being able to tag someone and no longer be It, the person who is It tags a player, and each player who is tagged then has to link arms with the tagger and join in as It. As more players are tagged, the link of taggers grows, making it look like a blob of people, or a Chinese dragon (hence the name). No tags count if the Blob separates. The game is over when the last player is finally tagged.

2. Freeze Tag

When a player is tagged in Freeze Tag, she must freeze in place immediately. Sometimes the game is played with the rule that other untagged players can unfreeze anyone who is frozen; the game can also be played so that the person who is It only wins when every single player is frozen.

3. Tornado Tag

Also called Hurricane Tag, Hurricane, and plain old Tornado, this variation of tag requires the person who is It to spin around like a tornado, with arms outstretched. If the person who is It tags someone without spinning, it doesn’t count.

4. TV Tag

In this version of tag, your generally useless TV knowledge comes in handy by saving you from becoming It. When a player is about to be tagged by the person who is It, she can keep herself safe by touching the ground and shouting out the name of a TV show. If a player can’t think of a show title before being tagged, or if she says a title someone else has already used, that player becomes It. (Another variation is to use movie titles or book titles.)

5. Shadow Tag

This game is perfect toward the end of a sunny day when shadows are long, since the main rule of Shadow Tag is that whoever is It can tag a player by stepping on her shadow.

6. Time Warp Tag

This kind of tag is played just like regular tag, except that at any point during the game play, any player (including whoever is It) can call out, “Time Warp!” whereupon all players must move in slow motion. When “Time Warp!” is called again, play returns to normal speed.

7. Line Tag

In Line Tag, which is played best on a playground or other surface with lines or painted areas on it, players are allowed to run or walk only on the lines. These can be hopscotch lines, basketball court lines, or even lines on the sidewalk—if it’s a line, you can step on it. Otherwise, you’re out. If a player is tagged, she must sit down, and the only player who can move past her is the one who is It.

8. Zombie Tag

The person who is It must chase after the players “zombie-style,” staggering with her arms out in front of her and groaning like the undead. When the It zombie tags a player, that player also becomes a zombie. The game ends when all players have been transformed into moaning zombies.

9. Electric Tag

When a player is tagged (complete with electric-sounding “bzzt!” noises by person who is It), she must sit on the ground and become “electrified,” which means that although she cannot stand up or move from her spot, she has the power of being It. The players who are not It and who have not been tagged must avoid being tagged by It and running too close to the electrified players, who are allowed to reach out and touch any player running past. Getting tagged by It or an electrified player means sitting down on the ground and becoming electrified yourself. The game continues until there is only one untagged, un-electrified player left.

10. Battle Tag

In this game, there are two players who are It: the Freezer, and the Heater. Everyone else is a Runner. The Freezer and Heater battle for control of the Runners—the Freezer wants everyone to be frozen, while the Heater wants everyone to be unfrozen. The Freezer freezes other players as in Freeze Tag, and the Heater unfreezes frozen players. The Heater cannot be frozen by the Freezer, and the Freezer cannot be melted by the Heater. The Freezer wins when all players are frozen before the Heater can get to them; the Heater wins when all players are unfrozen before the Freezer can refreeze them; the game is over when everyone is too tired to run anymore.

11. Inverted Tag

For Inverted Tag, everything is backward. There is only one player who is Not It, everyone else is It, and the object of the game is for everyone to chase the player who is Not It and tag her. Whoever stays Not It the longest is the winner.

12. Infection Tag

In Infection Tag, the player who is It infects everyone she tags, making every tagged player become It too. The last player tagged by any of the Its becomes the first It for the next round of infection.

13. Hot Lava Monster Tag

This version of tag is similar to the game of “hot lava,” where certain areas of the ground are deemed hot lava, making them untouchable. In Hot Lava Monster Tag, which is best played on a playground, the entire ground is hot lava, and the “hot lava monster” (the person who is It) is the only person who can stand on it. Everyone else must move around on the play structures, being careful not to touch the ground. Any player who touches the ground or gets tagged by the hot lava monster becomes the new hot lava monster.

14. Hide and Seek Tag

This is best played in woods with lots of places to hide. Everyone who is not It runs off while the Seeker closes her eyes and counts to 100 next to a designated tree. The Seeker calls “Ready or Not, Here I Come,” and begins searching for everyone else. The goal for those hiding is to get back to touch the tree before being tagged. Those who are tagged before touching the tree are also It and join the Seeker. The last one to reach the tree or be tagged is the Seeker in the next game.