Tig is a tradtional children's game in which one player touches another, then runs off to be pursued and touched in turn.
Basics: One player is ‘it’ (sometimes pronounced ‘het’) and they must touch another player (tig them). When It tigs another player the person who has been tug is now It and must tig someone. You usually need to call out 'tig' when you tig somebody. Extra rules: • Designated places are den. When you are in or touching Den you cannot be tigged. Den could be a wall, all walls, certain areas of ground, anything really. Sometimes there is a limit to how long someone can stay in Den and It will recite a countdown if someone stays in Den too long. • No tig back. You’re not allowed to tig the person who has tug you, or you must wait for a count of 3.
Variations
Buildy-up Tig: When tug you become It as well. Eventually everyone is It. In some versions all the Its must join together in a line or circle and catch the remaining people as a team.
Freeze and Release Tigs: When you are tug you can no longer move and must wait for someone who is still free to release you back into the game. Different varieties have their own rule combinations for freeze and release. These include Tunnel Tig where the caught person must stand with their legs apart and wait for someone to crawl through them, Toilet Tig where you stand or kneel with one arm out which someone else must ‘flush' (push down whilst making the appropriate noise), and Alphabet Tig where the shape of a letter is made with the body and a running player must guess it to free the frozen player. New versions are easily made up and teachers and games leaders will often chose rules to fit with a particular theme. It is possible to have more than one It.
Crossing Ground Tigs: These tigs need a fixed playing area where those running pass from one side to the other. It will start in the centre and try to tig people as they run past, the two opposing sides both being Den. When people are caught they will join It in the middle and help catch people though there may be restrictions on how much they can move. • Remainder versions: Sometimes It will let some of the people walk past free, if they are wearing a certain colour for example. It will then call for those remaining to run across. Rhymes and characters are often used for example in Farmer Farmer where the waiting players chant "Farmer, Farmer may we cross your golden river" before It (the farmer) answers "only if..." and gives the restriction for who may cross without being chased. • Selective versions: All players are given an existing category and It will call for all those of one group and try to catch them. There will also be a call which means everyone must run. eg. Jungle on Fire where everyone is given the name of perhaps one of four animals, everyone must run when It (the hunter) shouts 'Jungle on Fire'.
