hide and seek-child's play

Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek is a variant of the game tag, in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more seekers.

In the normal variant, "it" counts to a number that was designated before the game started. Once "it" reaches that number he or she yells "Come out, come out wherever you are!" or "Ready or not, here I come!" and then starts searching for the players who have hidden. When "it" finds a player, "it" will generally say something along the lines of, "I see you (player), you are hidden in (hiding place)," so that the player will know he or she has been spotted. The first person "it" finds will become "it" in the next round. But "it" continues searching for other players until all the players are found. The last person found doesn't get any prize or reward but it is accepted that he or she has the best hiding place. If "it" gives up, he or she can yell "Olly olly oxen free!" and the players will come out of their hiding places, a new round will ensue with the same "it", and the players may or may not choose the same hiding place.

n a more active variant, hide and seek can be combined with the game of tag. Instead of "it" simply spotting players, he or she has to tag them instead to get them out. Hiders can make a dash for Home Base, which is usually a landmark where whoever is "it" counts off. Touching the base area makes a hider safe, and the aim of the game is to touch base without being tagged. The seeker continues to search for hiders and if he/she finds none then he/she is "it" again in the next game. However, if "it" finds and tags someone before they are able to touch base, he/she must call out in a loud and repeated fashion "All ye all ye outs in free", "all ye, all ye, in come free", or where the call has been changed and slurred "Olly Olly Oxen free!", which means a new "it" has been tagged and all the other hiders are safe to return back to base.