Tag is a game that gets old as quickly as you do. There was always one kid that would end the game if tagged because he was too slow to get anyone else. That kid was me sometimes, it sucks. I’m not sure how popular the variations are, but I remember a few that I used to play.
Freeze Tag was a good one to play. Anyone tagged had to stand still until a non-It player tagged them to unfreeze them. It’s teamwork in its lowest form. Not counting one-on-one bouts, I’ve never seen a player freeze everyone. He’d be hailed as a god or something like that. But it just never happens. It would be one of the great feats of mankind.
Space Tag was pretty much the best form of tag possible, but it required a jungle gym. Don’t touch the ground or you’re it. I imagine this form has worldwide popularity. The crazy homies that felt ok running across the top of the monkey bars usually dominated. Inexperienced players (a.k.a. girls, who collected stickers and spread cooties) would always go down the slide.
Color Tag was a local Space Tag variation that could only be played at Kindergarten Park. This park had a sweet jungle gym and the ground was laid out in rubber tiles. The tiles were of different colors, the dominant color was blue. You were It if you were tagged or stepped on a blue tile. There was also some secret blue path to get to the geo-dome.
I remember one game pretty well. This kid Howard was It. He was one of the fastest kids in our grade–ADHD type speed. Now was the time to prove myself. I was chased up to the top of the jungle gym where the fireman’s pole was. The tricky thing is that the pole went straight down to a blue tile. I wasn’t even considering going down like that, I was a soldier. I decided to jump off the top of the jungle gym to avoid the tag.
I shattered my ankle. I was rolling on the ground in pain but at least I wasn’t It. Then Howard jumped down and tagged me anyway. I decided to go home, you know, because my ankle was cracked. Everyone called me a quitter. It was one of the darker days of my life.
I got casted up and was on crutches for weeks. As I was walking home one day, my left crutch went into a drain hole and snapped. Half fell into the abyss. For some reason, I played it off and walked home. I guess I thought nobody would notice that I was using uneven crutches. Kids laughed at me all the way home. It was one of the darker days of my life.
Cartoon Tag was easily the stupidest version ever. You run around just like normal, but if you were being chased, you could sit down and say the name of a Cartoon and you’d be immune until you stood back up. Cartoon names could not be repeated and characters didn’t count. Screaming “Roadrunner” onlly got you tagged. Pretty much every game ended in an argument about whether or not Power Rangers counted as a cartoon.