Tiger Tag—UCT’s Infamous and Epic Biannual Game is Underway!
By Jonathan Inglis
Have you ever been sitting in a lecture hall and seen a mysterious character sprint into the room, and one of your classmates suddenly bolted from their seat as if their life depended on it? If so, you have most likely witnessed a small part of UCT’s annual Tiger Tag, and the exciting week-long game started its first 2025 season last week!
Last week Friday, on the Woolsack cricket grounds, a group of students ended their social afternoon of frisbee as usual, but this time there was a catch. At 7pm, thirty club members shared their live locations on a private WhatsApp group, and a terrifyingly cardio-intensive game began.
“Tiger Tag is basically tag, but much more intense. This is not the game you played when you were a child,” explains Adam Kieffer-Walker, Vice Chairperson of UCT’s Ultimate Frisbee club, the society that runs the exciting event. The game has a signature rule that everyone’s locations must be shared at all times, making it possible for those tagged to track anyone down at any time of the day or night, and allowing those who aren’t ‘it’ to stay aware of their enemies.
“You obviously don’t want to be last ‘it’ because that’s how you lose—along with the person who was tagged the most throughout the week,” says Adam, who happily adds that he has never lost. Tiger Tag has been going strong since 2017, with this semester being the eighth season. Eliza Stewart, captain of the women's frisbee team, told me: “It may seem like a simple game, but we actually have a very comprehensive rules document with many technicalities.” One of these rules is that when you tag someone, it needs to be filmed on a cellphone and the video must be sent to the group as proof. That’s when an Excel score sheet is updated, keeping track of everyone’s counters.
This season of the game will end at 5 pm this Friday, and the losers will be tasked with some embarrassing tasks as punishments. Last year, they were forced to start a conga line on Upper Campus. “I would like to be the least embarrassed person this year,” says Eliza. “I normally have a strategy to avoid tags as long as possible but that always makes me a target near the end of the week.” She tells me the best way to fly under the radar is to "lock in and start skipping your classes."
Each season of the city-wide game has its own unique and hilarious stories. Laurie Ann, one of the three judges for this year’s seasons, says that she will never forget the surety that no one would come into her res until she was tagged in her room. She believes that her most elaborate tag was when she and a group of friends drove all the way to Hout Bay to sneak into a friend’s home to tag them—afterwards, they came all the way back and tagged me in Rondebosch.
I personally remember this night extremely well. Season seven, 11:30 pm—I’ll never forget it: standing in my kitchen making some buttered toast when someone who I had never seen in my life walked in, Google Maps in hand. He asked me if I was indeed Jonathan, to which I responded by screaming and running out of the kitchen. He finally caught me in a petrol station on Main Road.
Laurie Ann’s job as a judge this year is to handle disputes, ensuring rules are followed and that the video evidence is up to scratch. She is “looking forward to some epic chase-downs, elaborate plans, great banter, and the secondhand anxiety of the players.” Her tips for avoiding getting tagged include: do not trust anyone (especially roommates), wear running shoes to campus, and don’t open your window at robots.
We are sure that this week will be full of betrayals, chases through shopping malls, and exciting plots as the Tiger Tag players try their best to either avoid getting caught or to do the catching—and while they do, see if you can spot any of them sprinting through the city!