When kids’ games get serious: the adults competing at tag, conkers and hide and seek

Tag, conkers, Simon Says and hide and seek are not just for children, there are adults who take them very competitively, too. Amelia Tait meets the competitors for whom kids' games have become a career. One, two, three...

Steve Max has no memories of playing Simon Says as a kid. He probably did - the centuries-old command game is beloved by adults who need children to be quiet (and put their hands on their head) for a little while - but Max only recalls playing Duck, Duck Goose and kickball at summer camp. No matter. At the ripe old age of 59, Max now plays Simon Says at least two or three times a week.

Max is one of a handful of professional Simon Says callers across the globe. He leads the game after First Holy Communion ceremonies, in the middle of corporate all-staff meetings, and even during America's National Basketball Association (NBA) games. If you think about it, there's really only one rule: only do it if my command is preceded by Simon Says'," Max says over the phone from New York, And yet people are just terrible."

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