Game rules

This is how a game of Uitvossen unfolds, from the starting signal to the recap. The times and numbers mentioned are the defaults — the organiser can adjust them per game (see the Organising chapter).

The roles

The roles aren't equal, and that's the fun. The foxes get a head start and try to reach their secret end point unnoticed; the hunters chase and try to catch them.

Everyone in a team opens the same team link on their own phone — you share one team view. The foxes pick their secret end location before the start; it stays hidden from the hunters until the game is over. On plans with more teams, several fox or hunter teams can play at once: each fox team has its own final sprint, and the hunters only win once all foxes are caught.

How a game unfolds

At the start the foxes get a head start (default 15 minutes): the hunters may not leave yet and the jokers' challenge texts stay hidden. After that, the hunt is on. The game runs until the curfew (default 120 minutes after the start) — though jokers can move that moment forward or back. Who wins then is explained under The end.

Location pings

Uitvossen never tracks anyone live. Instead, teams share their location at set moments: a ping. By default the foxes must share every 15 minutes — the app reminds them, and the map tab shows the shared points as a trail. Share late and the duty stays open.

Visibility is deliberately asymmetric: the foxes' pings are always visible to the hunters (that is the hunt), but the hunters stay hidden from the foxes. Their trail is only visible to the organiser — unless the organiser shares it, or a joker forces the hunters to give up a ping. Once shared, pings stay visible. After the game, the full hunter trail is revealed to everyone as post-game entertainment.

Jokers can bend the ping duty: skip or delay an update, force the other team into an extra ping, or change the tempo — make the other team share twice as fast, or slow your own updates to half speed. See the Jokers & effects chapter.

Transport & rest

To stop one team from racing endlessly, the game has a transport rhythm: at most 30 minutes on the move in one go, then a mandatory 10 minutes rest. By default this only applies to the foxes; the organiser can also enable it for the hunters, both sides or nobody, and can attach a transport label ("car", "bike"). Jokers can shave off or add travel time, lengthen or shorten a rest, or freeze the other team on the spot.

Catching foxes

Catching happens in the real world: the hunters tag a fox. Then they report in the app which fox team was caught, and that team confirms it themselves: yes means they're out of the hunt, no means they play on. As long as foxes remain free, the clock keeps running. The organiser can always undo an accidentally confirmed catch.

The end

At curfew the app decides: if the foxes were within 50 metres of their secret end location at that moment (with a fresh ping), the foxes win; otherwise the hunters. If all foxes were already caught, the hunters win outright. If nothing can be determined — no end location set, or no recent ping — the teams pick the winner together in the app, and the organiser decides if they can't agree.

Afterwards

After the game the recap is ready: the route on the map, the evidence, the timeline — and a shareable recap video rendered on your own phone. The recap is there to relive the game; after that, photos and locations are wiped automatically.