Lose the Tail
| Lose the Tail | |
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| Designer: | Kevan Davis |
| Year: | unknown |
| Players: | 2+ |
| Stuff required: | If playing with more than two players; a briefcase or similarly large object. |
| Crew required: | None. |
| Preparation: | None. |
| Time required: | Half an hour upwards. |
| Place required: | Ideally, two large, public buildings within walking distance. |
| Activities: | Chasing, sneaking. |
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A two-player sneaking-and-tailing game that can be played in any urban environment.
Two-player rules
All you need to play this game are two agreed "safe zones" - one to start in, and one to end in. These should both be a good couple of hundred metres in radius, have clearly defined edges, contain a lot of scenery to obscure player's views, and be at least five hundred metres apart. A couple of large public buildings within walking distance of one another (say, Tate Modern and Festival Hall) would be ideal.
Pick one player to be the Quarry and one to be the Tail. Both players start standing next to one another somewhere in the start zone. The Quarry has to reach an agreed point in the end zone, within a certain time limit, and without the Tail tagging them.
The Tail can only tag the Quarry between the two safe zones. While the Quarry is still inside the start zone, the Tail can only follow them around, waiting for them to leave. (A good Tail will try not to be seen, so that the Quarry believes that it's safe to leave the zone.) If the Tail catches and tags the Quarry outside of the safe zones, the Tail wins the game.
If the Quarry makes it to the end zone before the time is up, then the game is over and the Quarry wins. If the Quarry arrives before the Tail, they should proceed to the exact meeting point (a coffee shop would be a good idea here) and wait for the Tail to get there when the time is up.
Multi-player variant
For a game with more than two players, split the players into two teams, a Quarry team and a Tail team. One of the Quarry team should carry a briefcase, a large manila folder, or some other prop. This prop can be passed between players or even left at a drop-off point, but it cannot be concealed inside a bag or coat.
The rules are the same as the two-player version, except that the briefcase is the thing that needs to get to the end zone. If a Tail player tags a Quarry player who is carrying the briefcase, then the Tail team win.
