Near Hide and Seek

Near is a companion for real-world hide-and-seek. It gives a group a private game room, a shared map, consenting live locations, questions, and tools for narrowing the search. The game still happens outside with your friends; Near keeps the information and rules in one place.

What Near does

One team hides and one team seeks. The hiding team chooses a legal hiding place and stays together. The seeking team moves through the playable area, asks questions, and uses the answers to rule out parts of the map. Near can show Radar, Thermometer, Matching, and other question cards, along with a playable border, Apple Maps places, and walking or public-transit directions.

Every room is private to its players. Location sharing starts only after joining a room, and each player can leave or stop sharing. GPS is approximate, so Near is a game tool—not an emergency, safety, or supervision service.

Near live game map with the room banner, team marker, and game tools — The live room map keeps the border, players, transit, and game tools together.

Near map showing a seeker question answer and the shaded impossible area — Questions turn answers into useful map information.

Near private room chat with messages and a photo attachment control — Keep your team together with private room chat.

Near dice page with dice rolls and a random number tool — Dice and random numbers handle the small decisions.

Near directions tool showing a route across the map — Walking and transit directions help seekers move around.

Near Distances Tool showing a distance ring on the map — Distance rings make the map easier to reason about.

How to play

Make or join a room. Everyone signs in, agrees to play, and joins the same private room. The host chooses the game size and playable border.
Choose teams and share location. Pick Hiding or Seeking in the lobby. Allow the location permissions your team has agreed to use, then stay together.
Hide within the rules. The hiding team uses the countdown to reach an outdoor hiding place and locks in its stop or position when the hiding period ends.
Ask and answer. Seekers ask a question card. The hiding team answers honestly, uses a permitted Cannot Answer or Randomize card when available, and keeps its private information private.
Narrow the map. Apply answers to the seeking map, use Distances and directions, and travel as a group. The hider’s exact location remains hidden.
Finish the round. When the seekers reach the relevant stop or satisfy the agreed end-game rule, check the answer together and start another round if you want.

Play fairly and safely

Only play with people who knowingly consent to share their location for the game.
Hide outdoors and do not trespass, drive while using Near, or enter unsafe places.
Do not use Street View, reverse-image search, Google Images, or AI to identify a place.
Photos inside Near are allowed for research during the game; follow the room’s agreed rules.
Follow local laws, transit rules, posted signs, and the complete room rules.

Near is an independent, fan-made companion and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Jet Lag: The Game, Wendover Productions, or Nebula. See the Terms and Privacy Policy for the full details.