Number of players: 10+ (the more the better)
Ages: 8+
Space: A wooded park is best, but a playground could also work.
This game is a favorite for boys, who tend to naturally gravitate toward being robbers and soldiers than girls do. It’s a great game for kids who love to get dirty while they play. It originated in Denmark, being played there for many generations.
The players are divided between robbers and soldiers. There should be one robber for every five soldiers. The soldiers have a General who directs them, and the robbers have a captain.
To begin play, the robbers get a five minute start from the prison, which is the starting point for the game, and where the soldiers wait for the command of the general to go find the robbers. The robber’s goal is to hide from the soldiers, and if found try not to get captured. That’s why the best place to play is a wooded park so the robbers have plenty of places to hide, and lots of ways to camouflage themselves.
Since the game ideally covers a lot of ground, it can be physically demanding, especially if the captured robbers put up a strong resistance. A robber can try to break away from the soldiers all the way to the prison. Once in the prison, a guard is appointed by the general to keep the prisoners, who can try to escape at any time, inside the prison.
There are many strategies the soldiers can use to capture the robbers. One suggestion is to form a large circle, and gradually close in on the center. This allows them to “flush out” the robbers, and then surround them once they’re discovered. The game is over when all of the robbers have been captured.