Pies


This is a chase game that is played outside with three or more players. One person is "it", and stands several feet away from the group of other players who gather at home base.

Standard procedures for selecting "it" should be employed (e.g. calling "not it" faster than the others, shooting out odd and even figures, short stick, rock paper scissors, etc.)

Ideally, this game should be played where there is a front porch for home base, a big yard with lots of room to run, and possibly a tree or some other object that players can run around.

All the players at home base think of types of pies, and whisper their selections to each other so everyone but the one who is "it" knows everyone else's pie. This is to prevent cheating.

Once the pies are selected, "it" calls out flavors of pies. When someone's flavor is called, they must get up and run around the established route, within the proper boundaries, and make it back to home base before "it" tags them.

Both "it" and the runner must run in the same direction. A lead zone, about 10 feet extended from home base in the direction of the running route, may be used as an area for the runner to get ready to run or to toy with "it".  "It" may tag the runner in this zone, but within this zone, the runner may quickly get back to home base. This can be compared to a baseball player leading off a base. If the runner steps outside the boundaries of the lead zone, he/she must commit to the chase. The distance of "it" to home base should be far enough so that "it" would have to be very fast to tag someone in the lead zone, but it can happen, especially if the runner trips trying to get back to home base. The runner can only tag up home base from the lead zone three times, and on the forth they have to run the whole route and take their lumps.

If the runner gets tagged they become "it". If "it" doesn't tag anyone, "it" is "it" again. This, of course, assumes the streetlights haven't come on and everyone has to go home. Have fun!

Contributed by Wayne E. Schiller

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