Hiding Zones

Your hiding zone is a circle located somewhere within the game map–once the seekers start seeking, this zone is your new home.

Depending on game size, you'll have a certain amount of time–the hiding period–to get from wherever the round starts to your hiding zone. Much like any other part of the game, you'll only be able to use your pre-established transit system to get to your hiding zone during this time, so make sure you plan on going somewhere you know you can get to. If the hiding period ends and you're somewhere else, then that's where your hiding zone is.

Choosing the right hiding zone is the single most impactful decision you'll make during your run, but there's rarely a "right" answer for where to hide. Out-of-the-way locations on the edges of your transit network can be harder to identify and travel to during the long game, but that sparseness is a double-edged sword; once the seekers have narrowed down the map, the relative lack of possible transit stations near your location can make it much easier to identify your exact hiding zone. Likewise, the densest parts of your map offer the protection of complexity, but offer the seekers easier transit opportunities and leave you exposed to a potentially devastating tentacle question.

Every hiding zone must be centered on a transit station; there may be other transit stations within your zone, but you'll have to choose a particular transit station to be "your" transit station. Many of the seekers' questions will reference this station or force you to take pictures around it, so it's important that you know which station this is. The rest of your zone extends a certain distance outwards from this station–in small and medium games, this zone is drawn as a ¼-mile radius from the icon for that station on your map; in large games, it is a ½-mile radius. You must stay in this circle for your entire round.

When in your hiding zone, you're free to do whatever you like–go shopping, eat a meal, see the sights–but don't get too distracted! Many photo questions will involve going somewhere else in your zone to take a photo of something in a fairly short window of time. If you'd like, you can take these photos ahead of time to give you more flexibility to freely wander your zone. We would also recommend spending some time scoping out a final hiding spot, which we detail on the next page.