While League of Legends is known for its intense, high-stakes competitive play, the community has also fostered a rich culture of custom game modes that prioritize fun and creativity. One of the most beloved is “Hide and Seek,” a playful twist on the game’s mechanics that transforms the battlefield into a massive playground.
Moving away from the strategic pressures of ranked games, this mode emphasizes deception, clever use of champion abilities, and exploration of the map’s hidden corners for a fresh and often hilarious experience.
Rules and Setup
Typically played on the Howling Abyss map, “Hide and Seek” leverages its linear design and ample bushes for a unique game of cat and mouse.
The game is divided into two teams: the “seekers” and the “hiders.”
- Team Composition: The standard format features 1-2 players as seekers, while the remaining players take on the role of hiders.
- Winning Conditions: Seekers win by successfully eliminating all hiders. Hiders, on the other hand, secure a win by surviving for a predetermined amount of time or for a set number of rounds.
- Agreed-Upon Restrictions: To ensure a balanced and enjoyable experience, players typically agree on a set of rules before the game begins. These can include restrictions on hiders’ ability to attack seekers, or limitations on item purchases and abilities for the seekers.
How to Play
The game kicks off with the seekers giving the hiders a head start to find their initial hiding spots.
- Hider Strategies: Hiders often select champions with built-in stealth or extreme mobility, such as Teemo, Evelynn, or Rengar, to facilitate creative escapes and elude their pursuers.
- Seeker Tactics: Seekers, in contrast, rely on champions with crowd control and vision-granting abilities to flush out their opponents. Gap closers and area-of-effect spells are also popular choices for seekers to quickly catch their prey.
- Mastering the Map: For hiders, mastering positioning, placing strategic wards to monitor seeker movements, and having quick reactions are crucial for survival. Seekers must learn to predict popular hiding locations and coordinate their efforts to effectively cover the map and expose their targets.
Popular Strategies
The heart of “Hide and Seek” lies in its creative and unconventional strategies.
- Deception for Hiders: Hiders often employ clever tactics, such as using champion recall animations, emotes, and even in-game jokes to confuse seekers and disguise their true location or intentions.
- Coordination for Seekers: Seekers must work together, combining their vision tools and abilities to efficiently sweep the map and reveal invisible or camouflaged hiders.
“Hide and Seek” is a beloved League of Legends tradition that is perfect for relaxing with friends and showcasing the lighter side of the game. It provides a unique opportunity to explore underused champion mechanics and map tricks, all while fostering a sense of teamwork, creativity, and plenty of laughs along the way.
Written by:
Christian