Sprout Tag in Spud Arena: tag the potatoes, or keep away from the sprouts

Sprout Tag is a team mode in Spud Arena for up to eight players. It is a game of tag: sprouts chase the potatoes, and every potato they tag sprouts too and joins the chase. Nobody is knocked out in this mode.

How a round works

Everyone starts as a potato and has ten seconds to scatter. Then one potato sprouts, or two in a room of six players or more. The first sprouts need a few seconds to finish sprouting, which gives the potatoes near them a head start.

Sprouts move a little faster and jump a little higher than potatoes, and they carry only their melee tool. One swing that reaches a potato tags it: the potato sprouts after a short wiggle and from then on helps the sprouts. Sprouts wear a big green sprout and a green ring, so they are easy to tell apart.

Potatoes keep their guns, but a hit does not knock a sprout out. It pushes the sprout back and leaves it dizzy for two seconds. After that the sprout shakes it off and cannot be pushed again for a moment, so potatoes have to keep moving rather than rely on shooting alone. Ammunition is limited.

Who wins

A round lasts two and a half minutes. If at least one potato has not sprouted when time runs out, the potatoes win; if everyone has sprouted, the sprouts win. Tagging a potato earns 15 coins, and every potato still standing at the end earns 40 coins. The results show how many potatoes each player tagged, with awards for the best tagger and for the last potato.

Tips for potatoes

• Use the ten-second scatter to get away from the others, so one sprout cannot reach several potatoes at once.
• Keep moving. A potato standing still is the easiest one to tag.
• Save your shots for sprouts that are close. A push buys a few seconds to run.
• Stairs, ramps and corners slow a chase down; open ground helps the faster sprouts.

Tips for sprouts

• Come in from the side or from behind cover. A sprout running straight at a group of potatoes gets pushed back.
• Wait for a potato to reload or turn away before closing in.
• Listen for shooting: it tells you where potatoes are.
• Work with the other sprouts and cut off a potato from two directions.

The game modes overview describes the other modes, and playing with friends explains how to start a private party.