How to Play GPS Hide and Seek
The next time you're looking for an adventure or an excuse to test out your new GPS, consider playing a game of GPS hide and seek. Unlike the children's version, GPS hide and seek is a game for adults that takes time, patience and sharp thinking to win. Each team must find a person or item within a given radius using only their GPS and a few clues to guide them. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
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Instructions
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Plan the items you'll hide and the location in which you want to hide them. Make sure the location is somewhere public, or an area that you have permission to be in. If you want to play hide and seek with people instead of items, you'll hide at that location instead of leaving your items there. Typically, people choose to park their car somewhere and sit in it. The other team then has to locate the vehicle to win.
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Write down the address of the area in which you're hiding and check that it shows up correctly in your GPS. Decide with your group how large of a search area you want to cover. For example, you may want to limit your search area to five miles, or might consider 10 or 15 miles for longer games.
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Find an address within the predetermined search area from where you--or your items--will be hiding. For example, if you're hiding by parking your car at a grocery store and your group has decided the search area is 10 miles, you might give an address 7 miles away from the store as your location.
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Each person or team writes down their chosen location for the other team to start their search. This is not the exact location where you can be found, but rather somewhere within the specified search area. Write down a list of three clues about where you're hiding and place each one in an envelope. Each clue should be slightly more specific than the last one. Label the envelopes as "Vague," "Less Vague," and "Obvious."
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Trade the address you wrote down and your envelopes with another team or person. If you're hiding items instead of people, give each other time to go hide the items. If not, choose who will go first and give them time to drive to the location in which they want to hide. If you're hiding items, everyone can go at once. If not, you'll have to take turns since the team that's hiding will have to sit in one spot and can't search for the other team. Use cell phones to communicate when everyone is in position. All players who are seeking should start from the same spot.
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Type the address into your GPS and start searching. After finding the location with your GPS, open the envelope labeled "Vague" for a clue if you need one. Search within the search area and if you're stumped open the "Less Vague" envelope. If you're still having trouble, open the last envelope labeled "Obvious." The fewer clues you need, the more points you get at the end of the game.
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Gather all the teams together after everyone has had a turn to hide and to seek. Give each person five points for finding the item or person they were seeking, and give the team who found their item or person the quickest five more points. Give each team five points for each unopened envelope. The team with the most points wins.
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Tips & Warnings
Geocaching is a world wide game of GPS hide and seek. For more information on how you can participate as either a hider, a seeker or both, visit Geocaching.com and click "Getting Started."
