For this game choose flat surroundings with plenty of secret places. The players are divided into "policemen" and "robbers". The main policeman is a sheriff. The robbers hide before the game begins. The policemen tie their arms with the white kerchiefs or think of the other distinctive marks. They start catching the robbers by their sheriff's instruction. The policeman who notices the robber must say a password. Only on saying the password the policeman may catch the robber. (About the password the players agree before the game begins. The password is necessary to distinguish between the robbers and the policemen in the dark.) If the policeman cannot catch the robber single-handed he/she may call for help of the other policemen. The caught robber is led to the sheriff. The sheriff thinks of "a punishment" for him/her. Usually "the punishment" consists in several joke strikes of the wisp. The caught and "the convicted" robber becomes the policeman. He/she receives a white band or other distinctive mark of the policemen. The robbers may also catch the policemen and turn them into the robbers. For this the robbers must sneak up to the policeman, strike him lightly and pronounce the password before the policeman pronounces it. If the policeman says the password before the robber catches him/her, the robber has to escape. The robbers pay much attention to the sheriff. They may sneak up to him and catch him. So the sheriff must have bodyguards.
The rules of the game:
- The robbers and the policemen may make different tricks, but they mustn't confuse "the enemies" by changing the distinctive marks.
- If the robbers hear the policeman saying the password, they mustn't catch him/her. But the policeman may say the password only when he/she really sees the robbers.
- The game is over when one party is caught by the other or when the sheriff is caught.
- The players mustn't fight painfully. It's the main rule.
