GAME DETAILS

The Architect & The Urchin is a treasure hunt amidst a three-way game of tag. It is a night-time game with no suggested boundaries, taking place over the span of 4 hours.

The Architect has left "Secrets" around the city, which are in the form of rubber stamps attached to a fence or bike rack [click image to the right to enlarge]. Players collect these Secrets by stamping their map. All Secrets will be placed within a 1.5 mile radius of Washington Square Park. A player should expect to travel, by foot, at least 5 miles during the course of the game (and possibly as much as 10 miles).

At 7.30PM, Players will congregate at Bughouse Square (aka Washington Square Park 900 N. Dearborn St. at Delaware), where a mediator will take down their name. Each player will recieve:

• a colored Ribbon (either green, purple, or yellow)
  
• a Name, on an elastic bracelet
• a map with the locations of all 12 Secrets

Players will tie their ribbon to their left arm, and slip their Name bracelet over their right wrist. The Ribbon cannot be taken away. The Name can be stolen by other players. [Players can wear multiple Names at the same time.]

The goal of each Player is to locate Secrets and accumulate Names.

At 7.45PM, a mediator will release Players into the city in staggered groups, determined by their ribbon color. Players wearing the same color are not required to travel together, but they may.

Players will move throughout the city, on foot, using any route they wish, stamping their maps when they locate each Secret. Players are allowed to walk, run, or ride trains.

In order to enter the finish line, they must have at least 9 Secrets stamped on their map.

During the game, if a Player wearing a Green ribbon catches (tags) a player wearing a Yellow Ribbon, that Player must surrender all the Names that they are wearing. Yellow players who catch Purple players can steal their Names. Purple players who catch Green players can steal their Names. The player with the most Names at the finish line at midnight will be declared the winner.

Green chases Yellow, Yellow chases Purple, Purple chases Green

An event awaits all players who arrive at the finish line. Awards will be presented at midnight, including a trophy for the player with the most Names, a medal for the first 6 players to arrive with all 12 Secrets, a medal for the player with the best story, and a medal for the player with the best photograph.

GAME RULES

• Travel by foot* or train only– ABSOLUTELY NO BUSES, TAXIS, BIKES, SKATEBOARDS, SKATES, ROCKET PACKS, ETC.
  
• You may visit the Secrets in any order.
  
• Your ribbon must be worn visibly on the upper left arm at all times. Your Names (if you have any) must be worn visibly on your right wrist. Hiding either your ribbon or your Name is considered cheating, and is punishable by death.
• If a Player does not collect 9 Secrets, admission to the finish line will be granted with a $5 donation, though they will be ineligable for awards. Non-players are invited to attend the party at the finish line, with a $5 donation.

* necessary assistive technology is of course acceptable

TAGGING:

1) All tags must be clean and fair.

2) If there is any dispute over the fairness of a tag, it must be decided in the favor of the Player who was tagged.
[Don't attempt a tag unless you're sure you're in fair territory!]

3) All disputes must be settled by Players present, at the time of the tag. If the tagged Player does not challenge an unfair tag at the time that the Name is handed over, the tag is fair.

[no disputes will be handled at the finish line]

SAFE ZONES:

No tags are allowed within designated safe zones (all other locations in the city are fair, even if it is off the map)

• Washington Square Park, including sidewalk
• all CTA train stations (and trains)
• within 20 feet of any Secret stamp [this is approximately 4x your armspan, or approximately 7 paces]
• in the "Soccer Field" (TBA)
• Lincoln Ave between Southport-Wellington and Barry-Greenview [and within the Heart of Gold]

INVULNERABILITY:

Players are invulnerable to being tagged while they are collecting Names from someone they have just tagged. This invulnerability lasts for 30 seconds after the last Name is handed over.