Capture the Flag! Capture the Flag is a massive, adrenaline-pumping, urban game played on the streets of downtown Toronto. Two teams hide flags in their territory and attempt to capture the enemy flag using subways, streetcars, bicycles, longboards or their own two feet. Join us as we dash through the Financial District (the only 'hood in T.O that doesn't really have residences), evade the enemy, hide behind Toronto's skyscrapers, travel through the PATH and score a point.
CAPTURE THE FLAG 2008
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th
Meet @ KING & BAY at 9:00 PM (SW corner) $free + all ages! rain or shine For more info, e-mail love @ newmindspace.com facebook listing
Map The map is available online or as a printable, legal size pdf.
Participant Guide Capture the Flag is an incredible, rare evening. The rules have changed! Please read this guide completely to make sure the game is fun, safe and fair.
Disclaimer: Like other activities, Capture the Flag carries with it the risk of personal injury. By choosing to participate, players acknowledge the associated dangers and release Newmindspace from all liability.
What to Bring All participants are strongly encouraged to bring a cellphone and a flashlight. Players use phones to plan strategies. Also, the area is very dimly lit, and you will be glad you brought a flashlight or a head lamp. Additionally, if you are on wheels, please light up your bike!
Rules of Capture the Flag Teams are divided in half at the meeting point. Each team will receive their captain's phone number and exchange numbers with teammates. Rules will be explained and the game will begin.
Planning time: There will be a 10-minute planning time when the game begins, during which each team will hide their flag. After 10 minutes, players may advance to enemy territory.
Hiding flags: Flags must be placed on the very corner of two streets with at least three points of approach. This means no dead ends or edges of the map. There may be no obstructions near the flag, such as street furniture or garbage.
Defending flags: Only five people may defend a flag at any time, and must stay at least 45 meters (150 feet) away at all times. This "bubble" will be marked in chalk.
No "corking" streets: Teams using human walls near their flags will be penalized by having their flag bubble widened.
Getting tagged: If you are on enemy territory and you are tagged, you must return to your side of the border before you can advance again. The border street is neutral, but the sidewalk on either side is not. One-hand tag only, no holding, grabbing or touching in any other way: please respect your fellow players' physical boundaries.
Modes of transport: Players may capture the flag using any form of transportation except for private, motorized vehicles. Please light up bicycles with a headlight and tail light for traffic safety.
Capturing the flag: A flag is considered captured once it enters your territory and a referee is notified above ground. Once the ref is notified, calls will be made to inform all players of the score and the flag will be returned immediately. The game will not pause when a flag is captured.
Jaywalking: Jaywalking is dangerous and illegal. Players have, in the past, gotten tickets for jaywalking by the police. Please do not run across major streets.
Cheating: There will be volunteer referees making sure the rules are followed; however, this is a free game! Please keep it fun and fair.
The Video
Special thanks to Red Apple Entertainment for filming this :)
Help Wanted
We need two kinds of help with this game: we need volunteers, and we need donations. If you want to volunteer, come to this meeting before the game:
Volunteer Meeting:
Saturday, October 11th @ 6:00pm
Newmindspace Loft, 1153 Queen St. W suite 206. Directions here!
We will once again be using glowing necklaces for safety (and because glowing things are fun!) These are fairly expensive, so please consider donating.
Follow the Game via SMS
Use Twitter to send score updates to your phone! Directions:
1. Get a free Twitter account
2. Follow Newmindspace on Twitter
3. Add your phone number on the device page
4. Click "Device Updates" on the Newmindspace page and click "On"
Project Background Newmindspace hosts free pillow fights, subway parties, capture the flag, bubble battles and more in New York and Toronto. Capture the Flag is an urban game played on city streets.
In the spirit of turning the city into a giant playground, Newmindspace has taken this favourite childhood game, placed it in an urban setting and multiplied the number of participants.
Since massive urban Capture the Flag was invented, Newmindspace's guide Metromorphosis has been used to play the game in New York, Toronto, Chicago, London, Montréal, Los Angeles, Denver, Minneapolis, Des Moines, and many other cities around the world.
for more info, e-mail love
@ newmindspace.com
comments: 76. This is page 1 of 4.
name from JWMcnaBToZagGHw
Posted: 12:55 am [GMT] on May 26 2009
comment1,
name from KWiBYMctVjNzTX
Posted: 11:36 pm [GMT] on May 25 2009
comment6,
kib from Toronto
Posted: 12:51 am [GMT] on March 17 2009
So are there any videos coming up from 07 and 08?
kib from Toronto
Posted: 12:01 am [GMT] on December 11 2008
Is there any media coming out, pictures/videos?
jerry from Oak
Posted: 10:07 pm [GMT] on November 18 2008
Cheating is cheating. What are you talking about? You can't HIDE your glowstick and pretend that you aren't playing. That was BS. People had their glowstick behind there back or under sweaters... How does that make it fun??
And, I could see why the refering started yelling at the people lighting fireworks off. Like, how dumb is that. Going to ruin games like this in the future by lighting fireworks (or firecrackers) off in the middle of the city beside Royal York.
Flek from Toronto
Posted: 01:25 pm [GMT] on October 27 2008
Uh, how about charging a few bucks to cover costs? who WOULDN'T pay 5 bucks?
Joe the Plummer from USA
Posted: 11:51 pm [GMT] on October 16 2008
Nah, Refs are idiots. They make up rules on the spot and don't know the true essence of the game. Cheating is not cheating, it's covert, undercover strategy. Even in their description about Capture the Flag, they say it's a childhood game...which it's not. This game is the game used in armies and spec ops for training. Even the Spartans did this.
What the hell...I am just thankful that Kevin and Lori did this for us. They are awesome and I support them.
altan from waterloo
Posted: 09:48 pm [GMT] on October 16 2008
despite the cheating, it was hella fun and i wouldnt ever miss this. it was my 3rd year. even if half the players are following all the rules thats still 850 people who come to have fun together with good intentions. its a huge and amazing event and i think this will keep getting bigger and get a lot more attention.
arghun from St. Catharines
Posted: 02:29 pm [GMT] on October 16 2008
Refs. were volunteers and most did a pretty good job, esp. when the yellow team threw the flag in a taxi cab in an attempt to score lol. That was funny but the ref was right there. Great event, ill sure to be there next year again.
Btw: I some people with cameras filming the event throughout the night. Any idea on when the vid. would be posted?
Cindy from Toronto
Posted: 01:22 pm [GMT] on October 16 2008
Kevin I hope you get the money you are looking for.
Lack of volunteering is no reason for anyone to be frustrated.
Lack of money is no lack of interest or donations, it's lack of planning.
Think about it.
Kevin from Newmindspace
Posted: 02:20 pm [GMT] on October 15 2008
Yes, there were a couple of refs who became frustrated because of the lack of volunteerism this year. We put out several calls for help and only got a handful of refs, who bore a larger burden than last year's team, which was twice the size.
If you want to support our events, we always need more volunteers and donations!
We are currently $400 short of breaking even on this one... that's only $0.25 per person. Think about it! :)
Looking forward to seeing you at the next event :)
mike from toronto
Posted: 05:23 am [GMT] on October 15 2008
I uploaded some pics to my flickr page. www.flickr.com/photos/mike-tan/sets/72157607974345644/
Lorraine from Toronto
Posted: 01:02 am [GMT] on October 15 2008
I know which girl you guys are talking about, but I'm not sure her hair was purple...wasn't blue? She was short and had her hair in a pony talk. That girl and some mouth on her. I'm surprised the group didn't rush her.
Brian from Toronto
Posted: 08:28 pm [GMT] on October 14 2008
The Night was a complete success. The Refs are young and are still learning how to handle difficult situations. I give credit to the organizers for doing this.
It's hard to lead people. I can't wait until next time.
Warren one person got hurt. A ref tried to snatch a green necklace off of a player who was trying to calm her down when she was freaking out on everyone.
Western from London
Posted: 02:59 pm [GMT] on October 14 2008
It was fun.. we ran into the hotel and stayed there for a bit.. people looked at us funny with our glowsticks and all. Overall good experience, would like to do it again without having to dodge cars along the way.
Warren from Toronto
Posted: 01:49 pm [GMT] on October 14 2008
Awesome fun. Thanks. Did anyone end up getting hurt? I was expecting someone to get 'tagged' by a bus. The city is way quieter during the week (in terms of traffic) - think that would be better? or not?
Kevin from Toronto
Posted: 12:34 am [GMT] on October 14 2008
I think the problem is that the Referees are young and lack experience. They never like to hear this. Everybody was cheating left, right and center, which means that the rules have to change. She had no right to yell at everyone regarding fireworks. She has no power over that and to tell the crowd that the police called was a complete lie. They never call. They just show up. Hopefully next year will be better.
The Chinese dude is wack.
storm from brampton
Posted: 08:27 pm [GMT] on October 13 2008
The oriental ref who kept insulting the green team when he was trying to make the circle was a goof. Instead of getting everyone's attention and bringing order, he just insulted everyone.
This was my first time here and as cool as it was, I don't think I'll be doing this again.
Jennifer from Toronto
Posted: 06:14 pm [GMT] on October 13 2008
The guy ref who was talking at the beginning and explaining the rules was cool.
But I know who Neo is talking about. The girl with the purple hair and was short and keep cussing at everyone wrecked it. That's why everyone just started ignoring her. One of the players had to pull her off from a screaming match with 2 new girls.
Kevin from Newmindspace
Posted: 05:47 pm [GMT] on October 13 2008
Hey there, Cam and Neo, those don't really sound like any of the volunteers we had reffing the game. You should have asked them for their names.
The teams were exactly even as we handed out the same number of glowsticks, one at a time.
Hiding flags: Flags must be placed on the very corner of two streets with at least three points of approach. This means no dead ends or edges of the map. There may be no obstructions near the flag, such as street furniture or garbage. 
