Hide and seek is a game played by children in which one or more children hide and another child searches for them. In its simplest form, the "seeker" will give the "hiders" some fixed amount of time to scatter throughout the playing area and find hiding spots, and then begin searching; the last hider to remain unfound is considered the winner. There are a number of common variations on this pattern, including one in which hiders may defeat the seeker by reaching the seeker's starting point without being seen or tagged; those who reach it successfully are "home free," but must take the risk of leaving their hiding spot and being more easily found.