Teams are even, made up frequently of 5 people or more per team. You need a large area to play in, otherwise it is too difficult to explore the opponent’s territory without immediately getting tagged.
A house with a large front and back yard, or two equally large sides. A paintball course. A large stretch of woods, especially with a stream or set of power lines in the middle. [1] X Research source You can play a modified version of capture the flag on completely flat ground as well. To do so, you simply place the flags at the farthest possible ends of the field in plain sight. Split the field in half, then start playing. The game then becomes more about running, dodging and tagging than hiding.
You can still play with an uneven number of players. Have the extra player hide the flags by themselves, for example, so neither team knows where to look. They can then “judge” the game, officiating whether or not someone was tagged. You can also make it so that the team with the “better territory” (for example, a backyard with many more hiding spots) has one less player, evening the playing field.
Bandanas. Old t-shirts. Balls and Frisbees (you may make a rule that they can be passed once found, or they have to be carried) Cones Old toys.
While natural lines (trees, shrubs, roads, etc. ) may be easy to see, old shirts, athletic cones, and small markers like toys can make it easier for everyone to see the center line if there are no good natural dividing lines. You don’t have to mark off the back and sides. As long as everyone knows not to hide the flag past the boundaries there should not be a problem.
The flag must be visible from one angle (not underneath a covering or stuffed in a mailbox). The flag cannot be tied down or wedged – you need to be able to grab it as you run past. The flag can’t be buried or raised up so that it can’t be quickly snagged.
One-handed tagging, or two-handed tagging? When a player is freed from jail do they need to run back to their side before getting re-tagged, or do they get a free walk back? Can a player save everyone in jail at once, or just one person? If you grab the flag and are tagged, do you drop the flag there or let the other team return it? Can you move your own team’s flag somewhere new? How far must a player stand away from their own flag (ie. no guarding the flag so that it is impossible to pick up)?[3] X Research source
Guards: Patrol the center line and the rest of your field, ready to tag anyone who crosses or tries to find your flag. Often calls out to the rest of the team when they’ve found someone hiding or sneaking on their side. They also try and prevent jailbreaks. Attackers: Try and sneak away or outrun the guards, looking for the flag. They will go to jail often while searching, so other attackers need to take turns saving them so that all the attackers don’t end up in jail at once. Once they find the flag, they tell the rest of their team and try to capture it. Scouts/Rangers/Recon (Optional): If you have a big team, you’ll want a few fast players who can switch between offensive and defense, depending on the team’s needs. These players usually save others from jail, help search for the flag near the border, defend when the guards are outnumbered, or slowly sneak into enemy territory while the attackers distract the guards.
The Mad Rush: A desperate move, or one used if you know where the flag is, this involves sending almost everyone in at once in the hopes that one person gets the flag back safely. The Decoy: Risky but rewarding, this involves sending some of your fastest players all to one side of the field. Their goal is simply not to get tagged, drawing as many guards to chase them as possible, while another player on the other side of the field quietly sneaks around to look for the flag. Blockers: If you have the flag or know where to find it, group up with 3-4 other teammates. Run together towards the flag with your fastest person in the middle and the rest of the team 4–5 feet (1. 2–1. 5 m) away on either side, taking tags as “blockers. " Note, however, that once a player is tagged they must stop playing and go to jail. They cannot keep blocking after they’ve been tagged.
The farther away your flag, the more ground the team has to cover without being tagged, making it easier to defend. That said, mixing in a very close location once in a while may be a risk worth taking, as the other team might not even look at the nearby hiding spots if they expect it farther back. If the flag has to be visible, try and make it only see-able from behind so that the team needs to run all the way around to get a view of it. Putting the flag near your jail may lead to a prisoner seeing it while they wait, so try and keep some distance.
This is a great variation for Open-Field games, where it is impossible to hide a flag.
You can also give each flag a point score, based on the difficulty of finding and returning it to your base. Set a time limit on the game, and the team with the most points at the end wins. [4] X Research source
Water balloons or water guns can be substituted as well, but refilling them takes time, especially over a long game.
