Quick Start
Each round has one hider team and two seeker teams racing independently.
The other two teams are separate seeker teams. They race to find the same hider team.
After 60 minutes, the hider team's chosen transit station/stop becomes the center of a 500 m hiding zone.
Each seeker team tracks its own questions. The hider answers truthfully, then draws cards if you are using the deck.
The round ends when either seeker team finds the hiders. Record both seeker teams' times for scoring.
Setup
Set this before the first hiding period begins.
Each team hides once. In every round, the two non-hiding teams seek separately.
Begin anywhere in bounds. The next round starts from the previous hider's hiding spot after up to 10 minutes of planning.
Use WhatsApp for questions, answers, cards/curses, pauses and FOUND. Prefix messages with seeker team name.
Both seeker teams share live location with the hider during the round. Hiders do not share live location with seekers.
Map + Boundary
Use the Google My Maps board on phones. The packaged HTML map is the local backup.
The filled Zone 1+2 polygon and the red boundary line itself.
For this medium game, the hiding zone is a 500 m circle centered on the hider's chosen transit station/stop.
You may briefly pass outside the polygon while riding allowed public transport, but you cannot board, alight, transfer, wait or hide outside it.
The KML decides boundary disputes. If still unclear, rule against the team that created the ambiguity.
Hiding
Before endgame, hiders can move around their 500 m zone. During endgame, they must stay put.
The selected station/stop anchors the zone. Many questions refer to that station.
Seekers must be able to reach the spot during all game hours without paying, booking or asking permission.
No bathrooms, homes, staff-only areas, paid venues, hotel corridors, offices, platforms or fare-paid areas.
Final spot must be within 3 m of a marked road or path used for walking directions by the chosen map app.
Detailed hiding spot rules
- The spot does not have to be public property, but it must be publicly accessible during all game hours.
- Avoid shops or businesses where staying for a long time would reasonably get you kicked out.
- If seekers enter the zone while you are not at your intended final spot, the best legal public spot near you becomes your hiding spot.
- Make sure your zone has basic needs nearby, especially a bathroom and phone signal.
Questions
Each seeker team asks and records its own questions. Do not merge notes unless you choose to cooperate.
Use walking distance only if the question explicitly says walking distance. Measure to the map icon for places.
- Phone: long-press a blank point in Google Maps, tap Measure distance, move to the second point, then tap Add point.
- Desktop: right-click the start point, choose Measure distance, then click the destination.
5 minutes per asked question. If late, that seeker team's timer pauses until answered and no card reward is earned.
10 minutes for this medium game. Photos must use the phone's normal aspect ratio and no Street View matching.
Repeat cost is tracked per seeker team: double cost for that team's second ask, triple for its third, and so on.
No Google Street View. For this London game, no AI tools, ChatGPT, general web search, satellite view, AirTags or outside help.
Question categories and card rewards
- Matching: "Is your nearest ___ the same as my nearest ___?" Answer yes/no. Draw 3, keep 1.
- Measuring: "Compared to me, are you closer to or further from ___?" Draw 3, keep 1.
- Radar: "Are you within ___ of me?" Answer yes/no using the hider's actual location. Draw 2, keep 1.
- Thermometer: seekers send a start location, travel, then ask hotter/colder. Draw 2, keep 1.
- Photo: hider sends the requested legal photo from their zone. Draw 1, keep 1.
- Tentacle: seekers ask which listed place within range is nearest. Not used in small games. Draw 4, keep 2.
Map app and place legitimacy rules
- Use the same map app on both sides. This guide assumes Google Maps.
- For Google Maps, a business/place with 5 or more Google reviews is assumed legitimate unless everyone agrees otherwise.
- A business/place with fewer than 5 reviews is assumed illegitimate unless everyone agrees otherwise.
- When asking about a category, seekers should clarify ambiguity, for example by sending a screenshot of what they think counts.
Hider Deck
Cards are optional in this lowest-total-seeking-time variant. If you use them, keep effects simple and record any time penalties clearly.
Hiders can keep 6 cards unless a powerup expands the hand. If over limit, immediately play or discard down to the limit.
Ignore hider time-bonus cards for scoring unless everyone agrees before round 1 how they convert into seeker time penalties.
Can usually be played when useful. Veto and Randomize are played in response to questions.
Curses may target one seeker team unless the card clearly affects everyone. Only one active curse may block questions or transit at a time.
Deck details to keep in mind
- Veto: hider gives no answer and draws no reward. The question counts as asked.
- Randomize: replace the asked question with a random unasked question from the same category.
- Move: hider pauses their clock, discards their hand, reveals their original station and gets time to establish a new hiding zone. Not playable during endgame.
- Duplicate: copies another card in hand. If you are using time bonuses, it can copy one at round end.
Endgame + Scoring
The round is a race between the two seeker teams.
When either seeker team enters the hider's 500 m zone and is off transit, hiders must stay put.
A seeker team is within 2 m of the hiders and has spotted them. Near but unidentified does not count.
The finding seeker team records its elapsed seeking time. The other seeker team records the round cap, normally the time from seeker release to 22:00.
After every team has hidden once, add each team's seeking times from the rounds where they sought. Lowest total seeking time wins.
Scoring and endgame edge cases
If a question becomes impossible because the hider can no longer move, "I cannot answer the question" is a valid answer and still earns the card reward. If neither seeker team finds the hider before the hard stop, both seeker teams record the round cap for that round.
Transport
Use the agreed London public transit systems only.
- Allowed: walking, Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line, PAYG National Rail, TfL buses, trams, River Bus and Cable Car.
- Not allowed: taxis, Uber/Bolt, private cars, lifts from friends, bikes, e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, tour buses and sightseeing cruises.
- Payment: use the same contactless card/device or Oyster all day. River Bus and Cable Car may cost extra.
Safety
Real life beats the game.
- Obey staff, security, police, transport rules and venue rules immediately.
- No running in stations, across roads, on platforms, near water, on escalators or through crowds.
- No trespassing, climbing, barriers, rooftops, construction sites, emergency exits or staff-only areas.
- Do not block doors, gates, stairs, pavements, platforms, crossings or shop entrances.
- Pause if needed for safety, illness, lost players, dead phones/payment issues or serious disruption. Resume from the same positions.
Sources + Notes
Rules were updated from Book 4 Jul 2026.pdf, adapted to the London Zone 1+2 board.
- Book 4 Jul 2026.pdf - official hide-and-seek rulebook scan supplied for this update, including the two-seeker-team variant referenced by the user
- TfL status updates
- Google Maps distance help
- Packaged local HTML map