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Tag Rules in Plain Words

There is no one official rulebook for tag. Tag is older than any book. This page shows the base game most schools play — using the Playworks way of tagging safely — and then the famous versions, like Freeze Tag. This page has no sign-up and nothing to buy.

What the game is

One player is It. It chases everyone else. If It tags you, you become It. That is the whole game — and it never really ends until recess does.

Players: 3 or more. Big groups may play with two or three Its at once. What you need: a space to run, with edges everyone agrees on.

Setting up

Pick the boundaries first. Where may runners go? Where is out of bounds? Everyone must know before the chase starts.
Pick who is It. Rock, paper, scissors works. So does "not it!" — last one to say it is It.
It counts to 5 or 10 with eyes closed, so the runners can scatter.

How the game works

It runs and tries to tag another player — a light touch. Playworks teaches it this way: tag like butterfly wings landing on a shoulder. A tag is a touch, never a push, a grab, or a hit.
The tagged player becomes the new It, right away.
The old It is now a runner and must be given a few steps of head start in friendly games — many groups play "no tag-backs," below.
Play until the group is tired, then pick a fresh It and go again.

Ways schools play it differently

Freeze Tag: When It tags you, you do not become It. You freeze where you stand. A free runner can unfreeze you. How? The versions split: in many schoolyard games a runner must crawl between your legs to free you; in other published games a tag from a free player is enough. If everyone gets frozen, It wins and a new It is picked.
No Tag-Backs: You may not tag the player who just tagged you. This is a schoolyard rule played almost everywhere — it stops two kids tagging each other back and forth forever.
Shadow Tag: There is no touching at all. It tags you by stepping on your shadow. Best on a sunny day, and a good pick when a teacher says "no-contact games only."
TV Tag: When It comes near, crouch down and shout the name of a TV show. If you say it in time, the tag does not count. Each show may be used only once per game in strict groups.
Bandaid Tag (a Playworks published game): everyone is It. When you are tagged, put one hand on the tagged spot, like a bandaid, and keep playing. Get tagged a second time, use your other hand as a second bandaid. On the third tag, go to the "hospital" — do 5 jumping jacks — and come back in with both hands free.

Official rule, house rule, or schoolyard rule?

Base: Many fields name one safe spot — a tree, a bench, home base — where a runner cannot be tagged, often with a count limit like "1, 2, 3, off base!" Base is a local rule, not part of plain tag. Agree on it before the chase.

"I tagged your shirt, not you": A touch on clothes counts as a tag on most playgrounds. Hair and backpack tags are argued everywhere — settle it in the group before someone cries foul.

Tagging too hard: Not a gray area. Playworks' butterfly-wing tag is the published safe standard, and a shove is a foul in every version of this game.

Words to know

It — the chaser. The player who must tag someone else.

Tag — a light touch that passes "It" to the touched player.

Tag-back — tagging the player who just tagged you. Many groups ban it.

Boundaries — the edges of the playing area.

Common questions

What if It can never catch anyone?

Add a second It, or shrink the boundaries. Most groups do both. Tag works best in a space that is not too big.

Can a runner leave the boundaries to escape?

No. Out of bounds is out of bounds. Many groups play that stepping out makes you It — agree first.

How does tag ever end?

It does not have a winner. Tag ends when the group decides — lunch, the whistle, or everyone agreeing to switch to Freeze Tag.

Sources: Playworks game library — safe tagging and "Bandaid Tag" (playworks.org) — and the common published versions of Freeze Tag, Shadow Tag, and TV Tag as printed in school PE game collections. Read and rewritten in our own plain words. Versions are labeled above because no single book owns this game.