The stag do pub crawl game
A stag do has one structural problem: twelve people, one pub, and a group chat that stops being funny around the third round. Nobody wants a rigid itinerary, but a night with no shape at all turns into standing in a Wetherspoons wondering where half the group went.
Chase the Chickens gives the night a spine without turning it into a schedule. The stag (or whoever draws the short straw) becomes the Chicken. He picks a pub inside an agreed boundary and stays there. Everyone else splits into teams and hunts him down, pub by pub, on a live map. Walk into the wrong pub and the team stays for a drink of their choice; soft drinks count.
Why it works for a stag do
No organiser burnout
The best man sets the boundary, the duration and the kitty, then stops being a tour guide. The app handles roles, teams, timing and proof. He gets to actually enjoy the stag do he planned.
Scales from 6 to 30
Small groups run one Chicken and two teams. Big groups run multiple Chickens and split into four or five teams, which keeps every pub visit to a manageable size rather than thirty men trying to get served at once.
Your town, your pubs
You are not booking a venue or a guide. Draw a boundary around where you are and the game runs on the pubs that are already there. If your town isn’t on the map yet (Newcastle, Dublin, Prague, your mate’s home town), email support@chasethechickens.co.uk and we’ll add it.
No booking fee
Free while we launch. The only money involved is the kitty the group agrees between themselves. No per-head booking fee on top of an already expensive weekend.
How a stag do runs
- 1
Before the day
The best man opens the app, sets a boundary around the area you are drinking in, picks a duration (three hours is the sweet spot for a stag) and agrees the kitty. £10 to £20 a head is typical. Everyone joins with a code.
- 2
First pub
The app assigns the Chicken and splits the chasers into teams. The Chicken gets the first round in from the kitty (soft drinks count), which is the only genuinely traditional part of the evening.
- 3
The head start
The Chicken leaves and picks a pub to sit in for the rest of the game. Chasers stay put, finish their drinks, and get moving thirty minutes later.
- 4
The hunt
Teams work the map. Every pub they check needs a check-in photo to count. At a wrong pub the team stays for a drink of their choice (soft drinks count) before moving on, which keeps the pace sensible: nobody sprints round twelve pubs in an hour.
- 5
The finish
First team to find the Chicken joins him, and the kitty keeps covering the group. Teams still out when the clock runs out take a forfeit of the group's choice. House rules vary, and they should.
Stag do questions
- How many people do you need for a stag do version?
- Six is the realistic minimum: one Chicken and two teams of two or three. Above about twenty, run two or three Chickens so the teams have somewhere to be. There is no upper limit the app enforces.
- Should the stag be the Chicken?
- It is funnier if he is not. Making the stag a chaser means he spends the night being marched between pubs by his mates, which is the point of a stag do. Let the app assign it randomly and see what happens.
- How long should a stag do game last?
- Three hours. Under two and teams barely clear four pubs; over four and the group is too far gone to read a map. Set the timer at the start and let it end the game for you.
- Does it work abroad?
- Yes, in any city we’ve added. It needs pubs or bars and phone signal, not a UK postcode. If your destination isn’t on the map yet, email support@chasethechickens.co.uk with the city and your dates and we’ll add it. Draw the boundary tighter than you would at home: an unfamiliar city with a wide boundary is a long walk.
- Do we need to download anything from an app store?
- No. It is a Progressive Web App: open the link in a browser or add it to the home screen. Nothing to install, nothing to approve, no one left out because they are on an old phone.