Near Hide + Seek is a bootstrapped software startup founded in April 2026 by James Tumino. We build cross-platform software for real-world social games: games that happen outside, across a neighborhood or a whole city, with friends who are actually there.
- Company
- Near Hide + Seek
- Founder
- James Tumino
- Founded
- Funding
- Bootstrapped, founder-funded
- Website
- near-hide-and-seek.com
What we make
Our first product, Near Hide + Seek, helps a group play large-scale hide-and-seek. It gives them a private game room, a live map with a playable border they draw themselves, public-transit routing, location-based deduction questions such as Radar and Thermometer, and location sharing that each player turns on and can turn off.
Near runs in any modern browser and as an Android app on Google Play, with an iPhone app on its way to the App Store. Players on all three can join the same room. Creating and joining games is free; optional tips and optional rewarded ads earn Scout Points, which unlock cosmetic markers only.
How we build
Near is a one-person company. James Tumino designs the product, sets the priorities and runs the business. The code is written by AI coding agents working in parallel under his direction, mainly Anthropic’s Claude Code alongside OpenAI’s Codex. Each agent works on its own branch, and every change passes the same automated checks and the same guarded release process before it reaches players.
The work so far
Development began in July 2026. By October 2026 the project had more than 2,300 commits, about 3,900 automated tests, and 40-plus engineering and operations documents. Along the way it has shipped:
- One game on three platforms. A web app, an Android app on Google Play, and an iPhone app with a native Apple Maps view, background location and Live Activities for the round in progress.
- Real-time game rooms. Rooms, chat, questions and location updates run on Cloudflare Workers and Durable Objects, so every player sees the same game state.
- Map and transit tools. Playable borders players draw themselves, walking and transit directions, a worldwide rail overlay built from OpenStreetMap data, and question cards such as Radar and Thermometer that shade the map.
- A rules engine that is tested by simulation. Full games are played automatically against the rules to catch problems before real players do.
- Privacy and security work. Consent-based location sharing, account deletion on the web and in the apps, and repeated security and privacy reviews of the codebase.
- Professional operations. A separate test environment with its own test apps, one release command that publishes the same checked build everywhere, and uptime monitoring.
Where we’re going
Hide-and-seek is the first game, not the only one. These are the directions we are working toward; none of them is a promise of a date.
- Tag mode. A Runner-versus-Chasers game played across a city, with win locations, transit challenges and role rotation. It is described on the tag game page and is not playable yet.
- More real-world game formats. The same room, map, border and consent-based location tools can carry other outdoor games, so each new format reuses what players already know.
- Ready-made cities. Shared borders and city guides so a group can start a game in a new city without drawing a border or researching transit first.
- An AI game host. Using Claude inside the product to help a host set up a fair game for their city and to answer rules questions during play, so nobody has to stop and look things up.
- Organized play. Tools for clubs, friend groups and events that run games regularly, such as saved setups, repeat rooms and simple scorekeeping across rounds.
What we hold to
- Location is shared only inside a private room, only after a player joins, and stops when they leave.
- No selling of player data, and no public location tracking.
- The core game stays free to create and join.
Contact
For anything about the company, partnerships or press, email jamestumino2@near-hide-and-seek.com. Player help is on the Support page, and an overview of the game is on What Is Near?.
Near Hide + Seek is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Jet Lag: The Game, Wendover Productions, or Nebula.