A TAG GAME EQUIPMENT The invention relates to a tag game equipment comprising a first game member, formed by a projectile and a second game member, formed by a cloth having an external surface and provided to be worn by a player. Such a tag game equipment is generally known. When playing the game, the players generally use a sport cloth or the like and a ball as projectile. The player owning the ball, i.e. the player who is "it", most often throws the ball to another player who then becomes "it", once the ball touches him. The rules also provide that a player who has been tagged by the opposite team will become a member of that opposite team. A drawback of the known tag game equipment is that too often a player will pretend that the ball did not touch him and the players may then start quarrelling over the issue. Another problem arises when the ball tag game is played by teams. As the player who has been tagged by the opposite team has to become a member of that team, during the game the players very often become confused as to which player belongs to which team since they visually cannot identify the teams. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tag game equipment enabling to clearly identify which player has been touched by the projectile. A tag game equipment according to the present invention is therefore characterised in that at least half of said external surface of said cloth and at least half of an outer surface of said projectile are each provided with a mechanical surface fastener in such a manner that upon impact of said projectile on said cloth the mechanical surface fastener of said projectile engages with the mechanical surface fastener of said cloth in order to removably fix said projectile on said cloth. The presence of the mechanical surface fastener on the surface of the projectile as well as on
the cloth, enables the projectile to remain fixed on the cloth of the person who has been hit by the projectile. Since the projectile remains fixed on the cloth, the player who has been hit can be easily recognised, thereby avoiding any discussion whether or not this player has been hit. The fact that the projectile is removably fixed to the cloth, enables to remove the projectile once it has been recognised that the player had been hit. A first preferred embodiment of a tag game equipment according to the invention is characterised in that the mechanical surface fastener comprises a first male element having resilient upstanding hooks, projecting from a first base and a second female element, having upstanding loops, projecting from a second base, said first element being applied on one of the first or second game members and said second element being applied on the other game member. In such a manner, when the male and female fasteners come together, the hooks entangle the loops so that a mutual engagement is obtained. A second preferred embodiment of a tag game equipment according to the invention is characterised in that said first element is applied on said projectile and said second element on said cloth. By applying the second element, formed by upstanding loops on the cloth, a more comfortable feeling is obtained as the closed shape of the loops does not give an unpleasant feeling on the skin of the player, what would have been the case when the hooks of the first element would be applied on the cloth. A third preferred embodiment of a tag game equipment according to the invention is characterised in that said cloth has an inner surface, at least half of said inner surface of said cloth being provided with said mechanical surface fastener, said mechanical surface fastener on said inner and external surface being of a same configuration. In such a manner, the inner as well as the external side of the cloth can be used for playing the game. This enables to use different colours or a different
pattern for both surfaces, thereby enabling to distinguish the player by their team. Preferably said tag game further comprises a first set of patches provided on one side with said mechanical surface fastener in such a manner as to be removably fixed to said mechanical surface fastener applied on said cloth. The patches enable the player to mark for example how many times they have been hit. Preferably said projectile is substantially ball shaped and made of soft material. The soft material will avoid that a player is hurt by the impact of the projectile. The invention will now be described in more details with reference to the drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of a tag game equipment according to the present invention. In the drawings : figure 1 shows a front view of the cloth formed by a vest; figure 2 shows a back view of the cloth formed by a vest; figure 3 shows a perspective left view of the vest showing removable pockets; figure 4 shows a perspective left view of the vest showing removable patches; and figure 5 shows a side view of a projectile with patches sewn or glued to it. In the drawings a same reference sign has been allotted to a same or analogous element. Figure 1 , respectively 2 illustrate a front, respectively a back view of a cloth which is game member of a tag game equipment according to the invention. In the shown embodiment the cloth 1 is formed by a vest to be worn by a game player. It will however be clear that the cloth can also be formed by a skirt, a pant and/or a cap. However for the sake of clarity only the embodiment where the cloth is formed by a
vest will be described in detail. For the other embodiments however, the same characteristics apply. The vest 1 is provided with an external 11 and an inner surface 10. The external and inner surface could have the same colour or present a same decorative pattern. The external and inner surface however have preferably a different colour or present a different decorative pattern. In the latter embodiment, the player only has to turn his vest when he changes of team. At least half of the external surface 11 and preferably also at least half of the inner surface of the cloth is provided with a mechanical surface fastener 13. The surface fastener is for example of the Velcro type (registered trademark). The surface fastener is either applied such as to form a continuous surface, or is segment wise applied. The mechanical surface fastener is provided to fix another game member formed by a projectile on the vest when the tag game is played. The projectile 30 is also part of the tag game equipment and is illustrated in figure 5. The projectile is preferably a lightweight ball, shaped and made of soft material such as foam covered by a fabric or leather. The advantage of using a soft material is that the projectile will not hurt a player when hitting the latter. The projectile 30 has an outer surface, which is also provided with a mechanical surface fastener 32. Preferably at least half of the outer surface of the projectile is provided with the mechanical surface fastener. It could also be possible to provide substantially entirely the external and even the inner surface of the cloth with the mechanical surface fastener, as well as the whole surface of the projectile. Because the outer surface of the cloth as well as the one of the projectile 30 are provided with a mechanical surface fastener, the surface fastener of the projectile will engage with the one of the cloth when the projectile hits the cloth, in order to removably fix the projectile
on the cloth. Preferably, the mechanical surface fastener comprises a first element, having resilient upstanding hooks, projecting from a first base and a second element, having upstanding loops, projecting from a second base. The first elements being applied on one of the first or second game members and the second element being applied on the other game member. Preferably, the first element is applied on the projectile and the second element on the cloth. Indeed, since the second element is loop shaped, the loops provide a much more convenient feeling on the skin than would do the hooks. Therefore, it is preferred to apply the loops on the vest so that even when the skin of the player comes into contact with the loops, he will not have an unpleasant feeling on his skin. As illustrated in figure 1 to 4, the vest is preferably sleeveless for comfort reasons. However the vest could also be foreseen with sleeves which are fixed or removably applied on the vest. The vest is further provided with a closing member 20, which could also be a mechanical surface fastener, formed by the opposite element as the one used on the rest of the surface provided with mechanical surface fastener for fixing the projectile. As illustrated in figure 1 and 2, the vest can be provided with markings 14, which are printed or sewed on the vest. The tag game could further comprise a first set of patches 22, provided on one side with the mechanical surface fastener in such a manner as to be removably fixed on the mechanical surface fastener applied on the cloth. The mechanical surface fastener is applied on the back side of the patches so that the latter can be hooked directly to the vest. The outer side of the patch 22 is smooth so that projectiles cannot hook to those patches. The patches can be made of different sizes to accommodate various game situations and needs. The outer sides of those patches will have various markings 28 printed upon them for point and theme related games. Patch
24 will for example be used when players are playing a game where points are awarded. The player will then remove a patch each time he or she is hit by a projectile. At the end of the game, the winner is the one having collected most points as indicated on the patches he or she has won. Patch 26 will be used to identify the different teams for example by names or markings. Figure 3 shows a perspective left view of the vest provided with a second set of the removable pockets 12. The pockets 12 have on one side mechanical surface fasteners 16 enabling the pockets 12 to be hooked to the vest 10. Some fasteners are sewn on the vest itself. Fastener 20 is sewn on the front, left side of the vest so that the vest 10 can be closed with the right side hooking on the left side of the vest 10. Another fastener 18 is sewn on the right, reverse side of the vest 10 so that the vest can be closed in a similar way when the vest 10 is reversed. The tag game equipment could also comprise a third set of labels 24, 26 provided on one side with its mechanical surface fastener, in such a manner as to removably fix with the mechanical surface fastener applied on the cloth. The labels could be used for example for applying the member or name of the player. The purpose of the tag game equipment according to the invention is to allow the players wearing such vests to throw soft projectiles, completely or partially covered with hook-like material at each other and to immediately know without any doubt whether they have hit their target or not as the projectile will hang on the vest upon impact. The player who has been hit will then unhook the ball from his vest and using that same ball or one of his own, will then proceed to look for a player to tag in the same way he was just tagged himself. Since the vest is over at least half of its surface covered with mechanical surface fasteners :
- the players do not need to worry about aiming their projectile at a particular spot on the vest as is the case for some prior art; - this will also enable the player wearing such a vest to temporarily place various patches on their vests; - the players will be able to hook a variety of pockets to their vests;
- the manufacturer of the vest will be able to print various graphics, images, patterns and text directly on the vest and on the patches. The vest can be of great benefit in a number of ball tag game situations such as, but not limited to the following ones : - in a game comprising two players, the players can play with one vest only and switch roles when the player wearing the vest is tagged. They can play with two vests and apply the usual ball tag game rules, alternating roles when they are tagged by the ball.
- in a game comprising multiple players, one player is "it" and throws the ball at any other player. The one he tags becomes "it" and assumes the role of tagging another player. It would be preferred to play this variation of ball tag while wearing the patches with numbers printed upon. Each time a player tags a patch, he removes it, keeps it until the end of the game and will count his points. The winner is the one who has accumulated the most points;
- in a game made of teams, the vests will enable each team to be more identifiable as they will come in various colours or be reversible with a different colour on the other side. Patches with various markings printed upon will also allow the players to identify their respective teams and individuals among the teams. The fact that the vest is completely made of mechanical surface fasteners allows to manufacture the vest in various colours, patterns and designs printed directly on the vest. The player can therefore benefit from a unique and cool look and be more easily identifiable within his gaming group.