Räuber und Gendarm
Also known as Robbers and Police, Räuber und Gendarmen
A large-scale team game combining hide-and-seek with tag, police hunt robbers and lock them in a prison that other robbers can raid to free their teammates.
How to play
Two teams are chosen: Gendarmen (police) and Räuber (robbers).
A small area is marked as the prison.
Robbers get a 30-second head start to scatter and hide across a wide area.
Police then hunt them; a simple tag sends a robber to prison.
Free robbers can free imprisoned teammates with a tag while avoiding police.
The game ends when all robbers are imprisoned, or after an agreed time limit, whichever comes first.
Police win by imprisoning all; robbers win by staying free.
Keep it fair
Agree the prison boundary clearly before starting, disputes nearly always happen at the prison edge, so mark it visibly with sticks or a line scratched in the dirt.
