How do you play Red Light, Green Light online?
Hold to run while the tagger faces the tree and calls out, then let go so you are standing still before they turn around. If you are still moving when the tagger looks, you are caught and sent back to the start line. Reach the tagger without being caught and tag their back to win.
The camera sits behind the start line and looks across the schoolyard toward a big tree where the tagger stands. The speech bubble at the top fills in the call one letter at a time, and the flower on its left opens a little more with every beat. Letters that have not been called yet stay faint, so you can always see how much is left. When the tagger turns, the bubble border turns red, the screen dims slightly and you hear a sharp wooden clack.
The bar at the bottom shows the distance from the start line to the tagger, and the yellow dot is you. The top left shows your time and the chances you have left (three hearts). Get caught three times and you are out.
What are the rules?
They are the playground rules. Move while the tagger calls, freeze when they look, get caught if you are seen moving, and when someone tags the tagger, everybody runs.
| Moment | In this game |
|---|---|
| While the tagger calls out | Hold to run. Top speed is 3 m per second |
| The last letter appears | The tagger starts to turn. You cannot be caught until the turn is finished |
| While the tagger is looking | Any movement gets you caught. You go back to the start line and lose a heart |
| A computer friend is caught | They walk over and stand in a line holding the tagger's hand |
| You reach the tagger's back | Tag! The hand chain breaks and everyone is free. Your time is recorded |
| Break and run | While the tagger counts one, two, three, run back toward the start. At "Stop!" everyone freezes, and the tagger takes three giant steps and catches whoever they can reach |
When should I let go so I am not caught?
Let go about one beat before the last letter. After you release, your runner keeps sliding forward about half a meter, one more step, and takes around 0.3 seconds to stop.
The tagger needs 0.46 seconds to turn on Easy, 0.3 seconds on Normal and 0.22 seconds on Hard. On Easy you can usually release when you see the last letter, but from Normal up, releasing after the last letter means you are still sliding when the tagger looks. The faster the call, the earlier you have to let go; a slow, drawn out call lets you push a little longer. The tagger looks for anywhere between 1 and 2.6 seconds, so keep your hands off until the next call starts.
Why does the call change speed every time?
Like a real tagger, the call uses a different rhythm each round so you have to watch it to the end instead of memorizing a beat. The call has ten beats, and the gaps between them follow one of seven patterns.
- Even: about 0.2 seconds per beat, the most common rhythm.
- Fast: all ten beats in under a second. Normal and Hard only.
- Slow start: the first three beats are drawn out, then the rest come in a rush.
- Slow finish: quick at first, then the last three beats are stretched.
- Pause: the tagger stops for half a second to a second in the middle, then carries on.
- Hold then snap: a pause right before the final beat, which then comes very quickly.
- Speeding up: starts lazy and gets faster beat by beat.
Hard adds two tricks. During a pause the tagger may glance over their shoulder; that is only a fake and moving is safe. But a tagger who has finished looking and starts to turn back may suddenly snap around again, and that look is real, so anyone who sprinted off the moment the tagger turned away gets caught.
How do I free the friends who were caught?
Reach the tagger's back without being caught and tag them, and every friend holding the tagger's hand is set free. The result screen shows how many friends you freed.
Right after the tag, the break and run begins. The tagger faces the tree and counts one, two, three, and while they count you hold to run back toward the start line. After three the tagger shouts "Stop!", everyone freezes on the spot, and the tagger turns and takes three giant steps toward the closest child. Whoever they touch is caught. If you ran during the whole count you are usually out of reach; if you hesitated, you are not. Getting caught while fleeing does not erase your tag time, and the result shows separately whether you got away.
Which modes can I play?
| Mode | What happens |
|---|---|
| Time trial | Just you against a Normal tagger. The time until you tag their back is your score, and your best time is saved |
| Two players | Player 1 runs a round, then player 2 runs. Both get exactly the same sequence of calls, and the shorter time wins |
| Computer tagger Easy, Normal, Hard | Race five computer friends. If a friend tags the tagger first you lose, so you have to get there first. Wins are saved for each level |
The computer friends judge the speed of each call and decide on their own when to stop. Sometimes they get greedy and are caught, and sometimes a fake glance makes them freeze for nothing. Chasing a friend who has pulled ahead is a quick way to get caught together.
Tips for getting there fast without being caught
- Count the faint letters. When only a couple of faint letters are left, let go. On a fast call, let go a little earlier still.
- Start on the first beat. The first 0.4 seconds are spent speeding up, so every moment of delay costs you.
- Do not fall for pauses. The tagger never turns before the final beat. Just watch out for a pause that ends with the last beat popping out suddenly.
- Wait for the next call. Especially on Hard, running as soon as the tagger turns away is how the snap look catches you.
- Flee on the first count. Press as soon as you hear one, and do not let go until you hear stop.
Controls
- Phone or tablet: keep a finger pressed anywhere on the screen to run and lift it to stop. The RUN button at the bottom right lights up while you are pressing.
- Computer: hold Space, ↑ or W, or hold the mouse button, to run. On the title and result screens Space or Enter starts a game.
- Sound: the tagger's voice is not a recording but a synthesized melody that imitates vowel sounds. Turn it off with the 🔊 button at the top right.
Your best time and wins per level are stored only in this browser and are never sent to a server. The Korean version of this playground game is called Mugunghwa kkochi pieotseumnida ("the rose of Sharon has bloomed"), and Japan's Daruma-san ga koronda has almost the same rules; in those language versions the tagger calls out their own phrase.