The hider deck contains three types of cards that the hider can use to their advantage: time bonus cards, powerup cards, and curse cards. Cards are drawn after a question is answered, and kept in the hider’s hand until they are played or discarded in the discard pile. The hider can keep 6 cards in their hand at a time (unless their hand size has been expanded through a powerup.)
If, at any point, the hider has exceeded their hand limit, they must immediately play or discard cards until they only have 6 cards remaining; the hider may not play the 7th card without first discarding or playing previous cards.
Discarded and used cards should be stored in a separate pile and cannot be drawn again in the active run.
Time bonus cards come in varying values and count towards the hider’s final hiding time. These cards cannot be “played,” and the only way that they leave the hider’s hand is if they are discarded. Time bonuses are added to the hider’s final hiding time only if they are in the hider’s hand at the end of the round; discarding a time bonus means that it will no longer count towards your final hiding time.
Like normal time bonuses, these cards are only scored and counted at the end of a hider’s round. Percentage time bonuses are worth a percentage of the hider’s total hiding time, excluding all other time bonuses (therefore they do not stack cumulatively.)
There are several different types of powerup cards you can draw from the hider deck. These cards can be played at any time and allow you to take a particular type of advantageous action a single time; once powerup cards have been used, they are discarded and leave your hand. You only need to inform the seekers that you are using a powerup if that powerup has some kind of direct effect on them that they need to know about. These are the powerups in the hider deck:
The veto powerup can be played in response to any question instead of answering. The seekers are given no answer to their question, and are instead informed that you have used a veto. The question cannot be reasked. Since you have not answered their question, you are given no reward and do not draw any cards from the hider deck. You may play a veto at any time during the response window after a question has been asked.
The randomize powerup can be played in response to any question instead of answering. After the seekers have been informed that you have used a randomize powerup, they must choose–at random, either using a random number generator or dice – a different unasked question from the same category. This question is then automatically asked instead, and you provide an answer as normal. The original question is not considered to have been asked, and can therefore be asked again for its original cost. If the randomize causes a question to be asked that returns a null answer, this is permitted (tough luck, though). You may play a randomize at any time during the response window after a question has been asked.
These powerups can be played at any time and allow you to dispose of some undesirable cards in your hand in exchange for new random draws. For example, if you play ‘Discard 1, draw 2’ you will discard one undesirable card from your hand, and draw and keep two new ones. Because the ‘Discard 1, draw 2’ card wil also leave your hand when you play it, you will end up with the same number of cards you started with. If you do not have enough extra cards to discard, these powerups cannot be played.
This powerup can be played at any time and immediately does two things: firstly, it allows you to draw and keep 1 card from the top of the deck. Secondly, it expands your hand to hold one extra card for the rest of the round, meaning you can keep up to 7 cards at once (or 8 if two of these powerups have been played.)
The duplicate powerup can be played as an exact copy of another card–curse, powerup, or time bonus–currently in your hand. Once played, the original card will remain in your hand and can still be played later. If a duplicate remains in your hand at the end of the round, it can be used as a copy of any time bonus in your hand, effectively doubling that bonus.
The move powerup, if played at the right moment, can be one of the most powerful cards in the game. When played, you are granted a certain amount of time based on game size to establish a new hiding zone. The rules for finding a new hiding zone apply as usual; you must center yourself on a new transit station, and you can only use valid transit to reach your new location. While you move, your hiding timer is paused, and the seekers must stay where they are and refrain from asking questions until the move timer is up. At this point, the game resumes, and your hiding timer continues from where it was at the moment you played the move powerup. You must immediately discard your entire hand and inform the seekers of your original transit station after playing it. Questions that were previously asked are still considered asked.
Time traps can only be placed on transit stations that are part of the official game network (i.e. stations that are considered valid hiding zones.) These cards leave your hand as soon as they are placed; if you are awarded the extra time, it is added to your total hiding time immediately. “Passing through” a station means traveling along a transit line that physically passes through a station (rail line in the case of a train station, same side of the road in the case of a bus station.)
Curse cards are played against the seekers as a means to slow them down, prevent them from asking questions, or just to annoy them. Every curse is unique, and has some kind of one-time effect on the seekers that lasts for a certain duration; much like powerups, once a curse has been used, it is then discarded and removed from your hand.
Curses cannot necessarily be played at any time; each curse has a casting cost that must be met before it can be played. In some cases, these casting costs are resources that must be paid by the hider, such as discarding other cards in your hand. In other cases, these casting costs reference certain conditions of the game, such as requiring that seekers are at least a certain distance away (You may notice that, on the cards, these casting costs are sometimes different for different game sizes, which will be indicated by the game size icons next to each cost.)
You may play multiple curses at once, but there cannot be more than one active curse preventing the seekers from asking questions or taking transit. If a curse is actively preventing the seekers from asking questions or taking transit, you must wait for the curse to be cleared before you can play another curse. In these cases, the seekers must inform you once they have cleared a curse.
For any rule disputes, here are additional notes for each curse in the hider deck:
You must be able to identify the car in question when sending the photo, and the seekers must agree that it is, in fact, the car that you claim that it is. Use the MSRP of the car, factoring in its year of production, and disregarding any add-ons or modifications that may have been paid for. (For example: upgrades to the car’s interior, special tires, custom colors, etc.) The photo sent to the seekers must include enough of the car for it to be identifiable. All of these rules also apply to the car found by the seekers. If you cannot confirm a car’s exact production year or exact model, both sides must come to a consensus on which model and year to use for determining price.
“Bridge” is defined as any elevated structure, acting as a path, road or railway, intended to be crossed by pedestrians, cars, or other vehicles. All seekers must have some part of their body under some part of the bridge when the next question is asked.
This curse may be used (and its price paid) during the time interval between a question and its answer, allowing a player to discard their hand before receiving the reward from a given question. You may not, however, ban the question that has just been asked, even if you have not yet answered it. Questions removed from the game using this curse cannot be asked, even for increased cost.
Any liquid already traveling with the seekers at the time that this card is played (e.g. water bottles) does not count. The liquid can be in any number of containers, and can be passed back and forth between the seekers at any time. The liquid can be sat down when the seekers are stationary or on transit, but it is considered “abandoned” once it is no longer within 3 meters of any seeker. The hider must be informed of their bonus immediately. “Body of water” within this context does not necessarily mean natural, but it cannot be a pool and must be large enough to be marked on the map.
“Bug” in this context refers to any insect, arachnid, diplopoda, chilopoda, or anything else that would be colloquially and commonly referred to as a “bug”. “Wild” in this context means undomesticated and not kept in human captivity, including large-scale outdoor instances of captivity, such as farms or sanctuaries. The photo must include enough of the animal to be recognizable within its category. If there is any dispute as to an animal’s classification, defer to Wikipedia. Animals outside of any of these categories (such as crustaceans) cannot be used for this curse.
The egg can be from any type of animal, but it must be a real egg (a chocolate egg or a plastic egg, for example, would not count.) Any visible fracture, however small, counts as killing the egg. For any other curse that requires all seekers to do something, the egg counts as a seeker. For example, using the Curse of the Lemon Phylactery after this curse has been played would require the egg to have a lemon attached to it.
Seekers must roll two d6 dice. Dice can only be rolled to enter a doorway once the doorway is visible to the seekers. For example, if you are attempting to roll to enter a train, you cannot roll the dice before the train arrives; you must be able to see the train door first. Doorways within a building that lead to other parts of the same building, such as a store within a train station, do not need to pass a dice check. If there is any reasonable dispute as to whether something counts as a seperate building, err on the side of doing a dice check. If the curse expires while a doorway is on cooldown, that cooldown also immediately expires.
The seekers should assign die numbers to each category before their first roll. For small-sized games, which only include five categories of questions, a six would result in a reroll.
The bird must be in frame from the moment the video starts. It is considered “in frame” so long as there is any recognizable portion of the bird on camera. The seekers have unlimited attempts to accomplish this.
The human-built structure in question cannot be any part of a road, including curbs or sidewalks.
You cannot begin fulfilling the casting cost of this curse if you would be otherwise unable to play a curse; once the cost is fulfilled, this curse must be cast immediately. The printed material cannot be printed by the seekers; the letters should be gathered from magazines, newspapers, or any other material that the seekers encounter in the wild. “Coherence” in this context does not necessarily mean complete sentences, but the hider should be able to discern the meaning of the question without further clarification. You may use easy-to-understand abbreviations for certain words (such as “2” instead of “to.”) If the question requires additional context outside of the basic sentence itself, this context does NOT need to be provided in the form of a ransom note. For example, if you are asking a thermometer question, you can simply ask something along the lines of, “Went 5 miles. Hotter/colder?” Any information about where you started and ended the thermometer can be provided as normal, in the form of a location pin or text.
“Publicly accessible” in this context follows the same rules as “publicly accessible” in the context of hiding spots. The destination does not need to be a single point; it can be a small general area like a park or store. The souvenir can be literally any physical object. It does not need to be with the seekers at all times, but it must be with them at the moment that the hider is caught.
Any object or display whose primary purpose is to raise awareness of a product, service, or business counts as an advertisement. If the advertisement is for a specific service, such as a massage, the seekers must pay for and receive the service advertised. If the advertisement is for a location but not a specific service, such as an amusement park, the seekers must enter that location. Locations that are not private businesses, such as a public park, do not count.
“Next Station,” in this context, refers to the next station that the seekers' current mode of transit will stop at; if there are any stops along the line that their current route will skip, those should be disregarded. If you are not sure whether the seekers are on transit, or whether their route will stop at a particular station, you may ask them for that information. If there is any ambiguity, you should tell them what you believe their next station is when this curse is cast to confirm that you didn’t misread their tracker. Even if the seekers' current mode of transit would eventually bring them closer to you, this curse may still be played so long as their next station is further; a line that heads in your direction but temporarily curves away is a particularly advantageous situation for this curse.
You cannot begin fulfilling the casting cost of this curse if you would be otherwise unable to play a curse; once the cost is fulfilled, this cast must be cast immediately. “Found in nature,” in this context, does not necessarily mean found in a natural space or untouched by humans; it simply means that you must find the rocks yourself, and cannot buy them.
The restaurants used in this curse must explicit reference a single country or region within a single country within either their name or some other public-facing material such as a menu. If a restaurant associates itself with multiple countries, or a region larger than a single country (such as an “Asian” restaurant), it cannot be used for this curse. Distance from a given country is measured from your exact location to the nearest point in that country.
The lemon must be a real lemon. It can be affixed using any means, but must be constantly touching the seekers’s skin or clothes. Once the lemon falls, the hider should be informed of their bonus immediately.
The die rolled for this curse must be a d6. If there are multiple seekers, seekers may choose to roll independently or have one die dictate steps for all seekers at once; either is acceptable. If seekers accidentally take extra steps, they should stop and roll the die retroactively until they have made up for all the unaccounted steps. Seekers cannot take unaccounted steps on purpose. except in situation where it would be unsafe to not take extra steps (such as crossing a busy road.)
The chosen five-letter word must be a real word, found in a dictionary, in the language that the game is being played in. You cannot, for example, use a French word if all players only speak English. If the game is being played in multiple languages, this should be clarified beforehand. If the hider ever fails to respond to a query in 30 seconds, this curse is instantly cleared.
Distance is measured parallel to the ground. The die can, and likely should, be rolled on an inclined surface. If the die is lost or does not land cleanly on one side, it cannot be counted. Any bonuses awarded to the hider should be delivered immediately.
This curse only applies to street intersections, meaning the intersection between two roads intended for cars (or pedestrian sidewalks along those roads.) This curse would not have any effects indoors, or in an area where there are no streets.
Any pending questions that were asked on transit before this curse was played must still be answered. Questions can still be asked outside of transit stations, but seekers cannot be on a platform (or closer than 5 meters from a station) or in any building associated with the transit station when asking questions.
Matching questions become draw 4, keep 1. Measuring questions become draw 4, keep 1. Thermometer questions become draw 3, keep 1. Radar questions become draw 3, keep 1. Photo questions become draw 2, keep 1. Tentacle questions become draw 5, keep 2.
“Solvable,” in this context, refers to a conventional solution to the maze–you must be able to draw an unbroken line from the start of the maze to the end of the maze. Your time limit begins from the moment you draw your first line; time spent gathering materials does not count. You may discard your maze and start drawing a new maze at any point, but you cannot restart your timer. You may not consult the internet or any other materials when drawing your maze; it must come entirely from your own head.
“Building or structure” encompasses any manmade objects. To verify the age, you must have at least one credible source that specifically references that object. Partially rebuilt or renovated structures may use their original build date, but fully rebuilt structures (or structures designed to emulate an older structure) may not.
The discount cannot be found online or in a publication; it must be in a store that is selling that item in-person. The discount must be clearly marked as being a discount; it can’t just be an item that happens to be cheaper than normal.
Long sleeves are defined as sleeves that extend past the elbow, and long pants/skirts are defined as extending past the knee.
“Museum” is anything categorized as a museum by the mapping app you are using. Players may also choose to wait outside if the museum is closed by the time they arrive. “Off-transit” means that players have physically disembarked their last form of transit and that it has left the station (i.e. you cannot temporarily step off a train while it’s stopped to fulfill the condition.)
“Route” includes start and end destinations and the line of transit (if applicable.) If forced off a route for any reason, the hider must be notified immediately. Players may not discard part of a time bonus; they must discard cards in their entirety. It is possible that players may have to discard more than the required number of minutes in order to pay for this curse.
“Immediately” means that this curse never enters your hand; it is played the moment it is chosen. Cards must be chosen before the next question is asked.
Players may not discard part of a time bonus; they must discard cards in their entirety. It is possible that players may have to discard more than the required number of minutes in order to pay for this curse.
A paper airplane may take any form, but must be constructed entirely from paper. The paper airplane may be thrown from a height in order to achieve extra lateral distance.
“Vetoed” in this case should be treated identically to a veto card being played; the question is not answered, no reward is given, and it is removed from the game for the rest of the round.
The hiding seeker may call or text the other seeker(s) when they are in position, but no more communication is allowed. “Off-transit” means that players have physically disembarked their last form of transit and that it has left the station (i.e. you cannot temporarily step off a train while it’s stopped to fulfill the condition.)
“Intersection” here is defined as any point along a named path or street (i.e. has a name on whatever mapping app you choose to use) where the player has an opportunity to turn onto one or more different named paths or streets. If there are somehow more than six divergent paths, a random number generator can be used instead of a die.
When seekers are “frozen,” they cannot make progress on clearing other curses or take any form of transit. If they are currently on transit when they become frozen, they must disembark at the next opportunity and wait out the rest of their freeze period at that station. Players may walk around freely while frozen for non game-related reasons, but must resume from the place where they were frozen when the freeze period concludes.
The full lyrics are as follows:
She starts out from Otiria, the smallest train you’ve seen
This is the Okaihau Express
An engine and a guardsvan with a carriage in between
This is the Okaihau Express
The driver doesn’t worry if he takes the journey slow
Driving the Okaihau Express
He’s got all day to do it in and 30 miles to go
Driving the Okaihau Express
She was goin' round the bend doin' 10 miles an hour
The whistle began to shriek
Well she caught that bull in the middle of the brisket
And the engine smelled of steak for a week
There’s puppies in an apple box, pippies in a sack
Riding the Okaihau Express
But no-one knows the difference when they’re drippin' from the rack
Riding the Okaihau Express
She stops at lake Omapere, to take some water in
This is the Okaihau Express
The fireman takes a bucket, the driver takes a swim
This is the Okaihau Express
Okaihau to Otiria, it’s just a single track
This is the Okaihau Express
You can’t turn it at the terminus, you just reverse her back
This is the Okaihau Express
If there are more than two seekers, there is still only one passenger princess. If there is only one seeker, this card cannot be played. The passenger princess may speak to the other seeker(s) as normal, but must effectively act as though the game does not exist and cannot provide any substantive commentary that could help the other players in any way.
Specificity is defined by the title of the Wikipedia page (e.g. “Golden Delicious” is a variety of apple that has a Wikipedia page, so finding a Golden Delicious apple would require the seekers to do the same. “Summerset” is a variety of apple that does not have a Wikipedia page, so you could send the Wikipedia page for “apple” and the seekers could respond with anything that would fall under the category of “apple.”) You cannot create a Wikipedia page.
Players may not practice or solicit any external support from people outside the game. The hider attempt follows the same parameters as the seeker attempt. The dice must come to rest in the cup; if they enter but bounce out, they are not scored.
After the letter has been mailed, they may also use any other form of communication to ask you the question.
Players may not discard part of a time bonus; they must discard cards in their entirety. It is possible that players may have to discard more than the required number of minutes in order to pay for this curse.
Players are considered no longer in line once there are no more people in front of them.
The category words are: MATCHING, MEASURING, RADAR, THERMOMETER, PHOTO, TENTACLES. There must be reasonable evidence to suggest that a handwritten letter was written directly on the surface by a person (with a pencil, pen, marker, paintbrush, spray can, chalk, etc.) and not printed.
It is the responsibility of the hider to keep track of where the last question was asked (and therefore where the seekers must return before asking their next question.)
“Running” is defined as a gait that does not have a double-support phase (i.e. both feet cannot be touching the ground at the same time.) If players want to be still and place both feet on the ground simultaneously, they must do so for 5 seconds or longer. Players may not discard part of a time bonus; they must discard cards in their entirety. It is possible that players may have to discard more than the required number of minutes in order to pay for this curse.
“Body of water” can be natural or manmade, but must be large enough to be visible on the mapping app you are using. “Off-transit” means that players have physically disembarked their last form of transit and that it has left the station (i.e. you cannot temporarily step off a train while it’s stopped to fulfill the condition.)
Power-ups include veto, randomize, duplicate, discard 1 draw 2, discard 2 draw 3, discard 3 draw 4, expand maximum hand size by 1, and expand maximum hand size by 2.
If the guessed location does not have a Google pin or any reviews, seekers may make another guess immediately. “Off-transit” means that players have physically disembarked their last form of transit and that it has left the station (i.e. you cannot temporarily step off a train while it’s stopped to fulfill the condition.)
All seekers must be visible in the photo provided. The 60 seconds begins from the moment the curse and photo are delivered.
“Triple rewards” means that the reward is earned three times in succession, not all at once (i.e. a radar question would have you draw two, keep one, draw two, keep one, draw two, keep one.)
This curse cannot be played if the hider would be outside their new zone once the curse takes effect; it must be played within a half radius of the station.
You are not required to lie after playing this curse; you may choose to answer the next three questions truthfully.
Power-ups include veto, randomize, duplicate, discard 1 draw 2, discard 2 draw 3, discard 3 draw 4, expand maximum hand size by 1, and expand maximum hand size by 2.