🏴‍☠️Capture The Flag – Suburban Essex Area of Narcotics Anonymous

Current Points + Flag Location

Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag is rooted in the traditional game described above but, appropriately, it has been adapted to benefit recovering addicts by both providing a fun activity and increasing attendance at NA meetings throughout the Suburban Essex Area. This being the case, Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag has its own rules and guidelines, as defined herein. Please, read this thoroughly before participating in actual play.

Basic Tenets of the Game

The six basic principles of the Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag game present a structure within which to play the game – they are not the rules that govern events during game play. The rules for the Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag game are discussed later in this document. The basic principles are:

1. Participation is not mandatory. Whether or not any given group or meeting chooses to participate is entirely up to the discretion of the group members or meeting, per Tradition Four. That said, all area groups and meetings are, of course, encouraged to participate.
2. The goal of Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag is for players to ‘capture’ the flags of other participating groups and/or meetings by attending those meetings and initiating a capture attempt (as described later on in the rules section).
3. Actual play will begin on a specific date after groups confirm they have their group’s physical flag in their possession. The game will continue on for a specified period of time.
4. One individual will volunteer or be nominated to serve as the “Capture the Flag Coordinator”. You should contact this individual at any time during the course of a given game through the submission form on the website in order to inform them of your group’s participation in the game, whether your group has created their flag physical yet, obtain details of another group’s flag location (also on the link above) or to report a successful capture attempt.
5. Groups or meetings that participate in a given game of Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag earn points for successfully capturing the flags currently in play. At the end of the game, these points will be tallied, a ‘winner’ will be declared, and a ‘prize’ of some sort will be awarded.
6. Only home groups members of a group can be considered as part of a capturing group. Non home group members cannot be recruited to assist in a capture.

The Rules of the Game

In games, rules are necessary to adjudicate potential conflicts that may arise during play. All games have rules and Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag is no exception. Remember the honor system is at play. Below are the rules that govern actual play in games of Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag:

Joining the Fun

In order to join a game of Suburban Essex Area Capture the Flag, a given group or meeting need only make a decision to participate. A local area group or meeting can join the fun at any time during the designated play period simply by creating their own flag, letting the Coordinator know and begin sending three or more home group members to another group to initiate capture attempts.

Come Early, Stay Late

In order for the home groups of a group to initiate a capture at a given meeting, they must be present for the entire duration of that meeting – from before the opening prayer, until the meeting is closed. If any home group members of a given group or meeting arrive after the meeting has started or leave early, any capture attempt that they or their fellows make is considered to be invalid (i.e., illegal).

Resolving Capture Attempts

In order to capture the flag (or flags) currently possessed by another group, each group of visiting home group members who intend to do so should clearly announce their intent before the meeting starts (doing so will prevent the meeting from being disrupted in an inappropriate manner). They should inform a trusted servant of the group beforehand that the 3 members are present to initiate a capture attempt and are homegroup members from the visiting group.

If visiting home group members from another group or meeting announce their intent to capture a flag and there are no other visiting home group members in attendance at the meeting also trying to capture the flag, the capture attempt is considered unopposed and is immediately successful. In such instances, the group who captures the flag is immediately awarded custody of the flag and transports it back to their own meeting space.

If multiple visiting home group members from other groups or meetings also announce their intent to capture a flag then capture attempts are considered to be opposed. In such instances, which ever group has the member with the least amount of clean time will be awarded the flag.

If there are multiple flags present at a group, a group can only take ONE of the flags, using the same rules as above. (You must announce your intent to capture a specific flag before the meeting starts).

If a group has multiple flags in their possession AND multiple visiting home groups present who are also trying to steal a flag, each visiting group can steal one flag each. For example: Sat. morning meeting has 3 flags in their possession and there are two visiting home groups present, if each visiting home group is trying to steal “different” flags, that is allowed. If each visiting home group is trying to steal the “same” flag, see rules above for opposed capture attempt.

Regardless of how the outcome of a given capture attempt is resolved, a successful capture attempt must be reported using the form below to the Coordinator within one hour after the end of the meeting, otherwise the capture is rendered null and void.

Fly Your Flag High

Should your group successfully initiate a capture and gain temporary custody of a flag (or flags), you must prominently display the flag(s) during your own meetings. This announces the presence of a flag (or flags) to visiting home group members of other groups, thus giving them an opportunity to capture them. Between meetings, all flags must be stored on site at the meeting location (though they can be secured in trunks or the like).

Earning Points

Each time home group members of a group or meeting successfully capture a flag, the group or meeting that they represent earns (1) point. Such point rewards will be tracked over time by the Coordinator. Points are tallied based on successful capture attempts not by the number of flags in their possession. For example: Monday night meeting captures Sunday Night’s flag; (1) point earned, but then the Sunday Night flag is stolen FROM the Monday Night meeting, Monday Night meeting still keeps their (1) point.

Fun

If a group causes a disruption on either side, they can be disqualified and prevented from playing. While the game is slightly competitive, it’s important to remember that the game was intended to promote unity and to encourage groups to attend other groups. Disputes are not urgent and should be resolved by the Coordinator, and not at the group, in order to prevent disrupting the atmosphere of recovery.

Coordinator: Kim D Contact: Use capture the flag submission form on seana website

Dates of Play: 1 year from November 1, 2025

Prize Awarded: TBD

Captured Flags are Worth 1 Point