Played on foot, in real streets
OnTheRun
One team runs.
Everyone else hunts.Real-life hide and seek across your whole city.
The hiders get a head start to vanish into the streets, then the seekers are let loose. The game ends one of two ways: a catch in person, or the hiders outlast the clock and win.
On a hider's phone, mid-game
Getting a game going
Only the host does the work below. If someone invited you, tap their link and wait for the host to pick your side.
Tap Play now
No account, no email, no password. The app opens a lobby with a five-digit code. You are the host, so you set the play area, the rules and the teams.
Draw the play area
Draw it on the map with your finger. Two streets or the whole city, your choice. Everyone plays inside the line.
Set the rules, or don't
Pick how fast the game should be. A middle pace comes selected, so you can skip this step entirely. You set the game length in the lobby.
Get everyone in
Send the link, read out the code, or show the QR code. Players standing near you see your lobby without a code.
Split the teams
Drag names between hiders and seekers. Star one hider as the sender. Every reveal goes out from their phone. Players who join after the start become seekers.
Then the chase
From here on, you are a hider.
The head start
You run. The seekers wait and watch a countdown. The usual head start is 15 minutes, enough to reach a tram and put two neighbourhoods behind you.
You have to give yourself away
Every 20 minutes your sender must give the team away: first a pin on your exact location, then a photo of your surroundings, then a pin again. You do not pick which one.
Every reveal freezes you
A reveal costs you 5 minutes standing still, right where you sent it. The seekers run toward you while you wait. Leave early and every seeker gets your location.
Leaving the play area costs you
Step outside the play area and you have 15 seconds to get back. Stay out and the app sends every seeker your exact location. The ping repeats every 2 minutes until you go back inside.
One catch ends the game
A seeker catches a hider in person. Catch one and the whole team is caught, so keep together. Reach the end time without being caught, with every dare done, and the hiders win.
Hiding is easy.
Staying hidden is not.
The rules the host sets
These are the rules a new lobby opens with, and the host can change every one. Once the game starts, the rules lock.
Head start
15min
How long the seekers wait before they start hunting.
Between reveals
20min
The gap between one reveal and the next. Ten minutes makes a hard game.
Freeze length
5min
How long you have to stay where you sent the reveal.
Game length
6hrs
How long before the hiders win on time.
Dares that give you away
The host picks up to 10 dares. The hiders have to clear every one before the end time. Each dare needs a photo, and the photo goes straight to the seekers. Finish a dare and you show the seekers where you have been. Leave one unfinished when time runs out and the seekers win.
Pub crawl
"Buy a drink for someone you've never met."
Tourist trail
"Strike the same pose as any statue."
Daredevil
"Ten push-ups in a busy public spot."
Wholesome
"Pet a dog. Ask first."
Chaos
"Wear your jacket backwards for one whole block."
Play now, or schedule a game for Friday
Pick a day and a time, set a meetup place on the map, and let everyone say whether they are coming. The game lands in everyone's calendar, and the entry updates if you move the day. When Friday arrives, the app pulls everyone back into the lobby.
Afterwards you get the whole thing back: the routes both teams actually took, every reveal that was sent, and the exact moment the game fell apart for the losing side.
Playing is free
Joining is always free: you never pay to be in someone else's game. A free game you host can hold up to 5 players, runs up to 4 hours, and plays at the fastest pace, with a 5-minute head start and a reveal every 15 minutes.
On The Run Pro is a one-time purchase, and only the host needs it: bigger groups, longer games, every rule set by you, scheduled games, the full replay afterwards, and every game you have played instead of only the newest. One host buying it makes every game they host a Pro game, for everyone in it. No ads, no subscriptions, and nothing that renews.
What the app will never do
Never shows anyone your live position. Not the seekers, not the host, not us. The only thing that leaves your phone during a game is a reveal you chose to send, or a ping you earned by breaking a rule. Routes appear once, in the recap, after the game is over.
Never asks who you are. No account, no email address, no password, no signing in with anything. You type a name for the game and that is the whole of it.
Never follows you around afterwards. Location is read while a game is running, not before and not after. No ads, no data brokers, no tracking you across other apps.
Never needs your screen on. The game runs from your pocket with the phone locked. Do not swipe the app away mid-chase.
Questions people ask
How many players you need, whether it works in your city, what the seekers can see, and twelve more.
Support
Something broken, or a question about a game? Email support@ontherun.app.
If you are reporting a problem, include the version number from the bottom of the app's Settings screen.
Play safe
On The Run happens in real streets, usually at speed, usually while looking at a phone. Watch the traffic. Do not trespass. Keep your eyes up, and stop if a situation stops being fun.
Get the app
Everyone playing needs it on their own phone. One of you hosts, the rest join with the code.
