Tag and many other names is a playground game that involves two or more players chasing other players in an attempt to “tag” or touch them, usually with their hands. There are many variations; most forms have no teams, scores, or equipment. Usually when a person is tagged, the tagger says, “Tag, you’re it”.

A group of players (two or more) decide who is going to be “it”, often using a counting-out game such as eeny, meeny, miny, moe. The player selected to be “it” then chases the others, attempting to get close enough to “tag” one of them (touching them with a hand) while the others try to escape. A tag makes the tagged player “it” – in some variations, the previous “it” is no longer “it” and the game can continue indefinitely while in others, both players remain “it” and the game ends when all players have become “it”. There are many variants which modify the rules for team play, or place restrictions on tagged players’ behavior. A simple variation makes tag an elimination game, so those tagged drop out of play. Some variants have a rule preventing a player from tagging the person who has just tagged them (known as “no tags-back”, “no returns”, or “can’t tag your master”).