---
key: mechanic/children--hide-chase
type: mechanic
id: children--hide-chase
lang: en
title: 'Hide-and-seek, tag and chase'
summary: 'Players change position, visibility and seeker or runner roles.'
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/children--hide-chase/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/children--hide-chase.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/children--hide-chase.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Action, construction and control'
sourceIds:
  - source-a4f4f9c86558b664
sources:
  - id: source-a4f4f9c86558b664
    title: Untitled Goose Game
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: hide-chase
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#hide-chase'
    categoryIds:
      - action
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Hide-and-seek, tag and chase'
    description: 'Players change position, visibility and seeker or runner roles.'
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/general-untitled-goose-05.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Untitled Goose Game
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/837470/ss_f85be4e268c984bcdec7c35138830fe1a7e50484.1920x1080.jpg?t=1699052664
      credit: House House / Panic
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        screenshot from Steam; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY
        4.0.
      caption: The goose hides in bushes beside the gardener
      alt: The goose hides in bushes beside the gardener
      markers:
        - x: 44
          'y': 44
          label: The bushes conceal part of the goose
        - x: 64
          'y': 77
          label: The gardener is on the other side of cover
    tips:
      - Make visibility rules and role changes clear to all participants.
    examples:
      - title: Untitled Goose Game
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy,
  with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support
  specific examples, not the entire classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/children
---
# Hide-and-seek, tag and chase

id: children--hide-chase
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/children--hide-chase
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/children--hide-chase/

Players change position, visibility and seeker or runner roles.

## At a glance

![The goose hides in bushes beside the gardener](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/general-untitled-goose-05.webp)

[Untitled Goose Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot from Steam; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. The bushes conceal part of the goose
2. The gardener is on the other side of cover

- Make visibility rules and role changes clear to all participants.

- [Untitled Goose Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/)

## How it works

Players change position, visibility and seeker or runner roles.

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="hide-chase-variants"></a>

- Hide before a countdown ends <a id="hide-chase-1"></a>
- Search using sounds or tracks <a id="hide-chase-2"></a>
- Freeze to remain unnoticed <a id="hide-chase-3"></a>
- Catch a player and pass on the chaser role <a id="hide-chase-4"></a>
- Free a captured teammate <a id="hide-chase-5"></a>
- Reach an agreed safe zone <a id="hide-chase-6"></a>
- Switch roles after a short round <a id="hide-chase-7"></a>
- Shrink the play area using a visible rule <a id="hide-chase-8"></a>

## Design example

Hypothetical courtyard: one player searches for others, and a tagged player becomes the next seeker.

## Context and limits

An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.

- [Untitled Goose Game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/) (id: source-a4f4f9c86558b664)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors