My friends and I were lucky. We grew up in and around “The Big Six Towers” in Queens which was a self-contained couple of acres of trees, pathways, playgrounds, huge flower planters, lots of grass, etc. where we played Ringalario. (No “eve”-io for us)
We would run around for hours evading the other team and charging the jail. There were plenty of bushes to hide in so stealth was also part of the game. Of course, the elderly residents weren’t too fond of us racing around, and eluding the security guards used to become part of the game as well.