TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM BRUNEI TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM BURMA (MYANMAR)

PASANG
Pasang is a traditional game that originates from BALON POUK
Brunei. It is a board game involving two players, using 120
Balon pouk is Myanmar's take on Dodgeball, a game
black and white tokens arranged on a black and white
played with local variations around the world. In this game,
playing board. Like the congkak, this board game is also
officials divide the playing field in half and draw a large
played during royal events.
circle in the center. The dividing line cuts the circle as well.
The defending team must stay inside the circle while the
attacking team puts one member in either half of the circle.
KIKIK
The two attackers work together, using one ball, to tag as
Kite, locally known as “Kikik”, has for centuries been many defenders as possible. If a defender catches the ball,
a popular traditional game for adults and children alike. they can get restore a teammate already tagged out,
The game often takes play in the form of ‘kite fighting’, in prolonging the game. It also puts the attacker who threw
which participants try to snag each other’s kites or cut the ball out of the game and rotates a new attacker into the
other kites down. While these days it’s not unusual to find circle. Once all the defenders are out, the attacking team
kites with a fibreglass frame, traditionally, a kite frame was moves into the circle and begins their round of defense.
made out of wood or bamboo. Bruneian made kites are
distinctive by their curved edges.
HTOKE SEE TOE

KAKI TIGA Another game requiring a marked field is Htoke see

toe, a game combining regulated movement on a grid,
A game of much skill, speed and strategy (and something usually found in board games, with a spirited
decimation of slippers), all this game requires are two teams game of team tag. To play, participants need two teams of
and two pairs of slippers. The idea is for one team to form a ten people, seven on the field and three substitutes, as well
pyramid using three slippers, while the opposing team tries as a play area marked by a series of lines determining
to knock down the stack with the fourth. Once this is done, where an attacking player starts and scores. Horizontal
some chaos ensues: one team tries to rebuild the pyramid lines crossing the field determine where defensive players
while the opposing team belts and eliminates them from the can move -- in a side to side motion across the field only.
game with the fourth slipper.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM CAMBODIA

SHWE SUN NYO Chab Kon Kleng

Most of Cambodia's traditional games can be
played anywhere and with just about anything. For
Shwe sun nyo means golden example, Chab Kon Kleng is a game of chase, a type
brown kite, a type of eagle or hawk. of tag game. One player is chosen to be the hen, and
In this game, children reenact a story one player becomes the crow. The rest of the players
of an evil bird attempting to eat a are the chicks. The objective of the game is for the
small child or the smallest bird in a crow to catch as many chicks as possible while the
nest. One child plays the part of the hen tries to protect them.
bird while another plays the part of
Ma Twe, the little child from the story.
The other children play the part of Sey
the family trying to protect the little
Some of the games may sound familiar. For
child
instance, have you ever owned a Hacky Sack? This
game is similar to the traditional Cambodian game
called Sey. Instead of the round bean bag used for
Hacky Sack, they use a feather attached to a rubber
disk, called a shuttlecock. The only objective is to
keep the shuttlecock in the air without using your
hands.

Klah Klok
Klah Klok is a traditional betting game. Three
dice are used that have pictures on each side instead
of numbers. The players bet on which pictures they
believe will be rolled and place their wagers on a game
board. Then the dice are rolled into a bowl. The
players win if a picture they wagered on appears. If
more than one of their pictures are rolled, then their
winnings multiply.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM THAILAND TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM MALAYSIA

Batu Seremban
Chan-Angkarn (with strings) ‘Tossing the stones’ or mainly known as batu
seremban is a traditional game that involves at least 2
Chan-Angkarn, or Monday-Tuesday. This game uses
players or more. It is usually played with few small round
long ropes made of rubber bands. One player is required to
stones or pebbles. Besides small stones, a small triangular
perform a sequence of 6-7 jumps over the long rope. Each
or round shaped cloth bag filled with saga seeds are also
jump is more challenging than the last and the player must
used as a substitute to stones. In addition, this game is
chant the days of the week as they jump. The person who is
usually played at home, in a park or anywhere clean during
most agile wins.
their leisure time. As they found the perfect spot, they will
sit on the floor in a circle and play in turns.

Esok (with eggs or seeds)

E-Sok, or Scooping Tamarind Seeds. This involves
dispersing tamarind seeds on the floor and using paper
cones to try and pick them up. The player who picks up the
most seeds wins!

Look Keaw
Marble Shooting. In brief, this game involves throwing
marbles into a specific game area. The purpose of the game
is to gain as many of your opponents marbles as possible
and to avoid losing your marbles at the same time.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM INDONESIA

Gassing Bentengan
“Spinning Top” or known as Gasing is a traditional Bentengan is usually played by kids during the break
game in Malaysia played by children mainly, young boys. time at school. Bentengan is a game where the players have
Gasing originally comes from the state of Kelantan. At to be calculated and fast.
Kelantan, after the rice harvest season, villagers will meet
To play the game you will need two ‘bases’, sometimes
up and challenge one another in a round of gasing to test
kids will use a pole or a tree. Each group consists of 4 to 8
their skills. The villagers believe that by playing gasing, it
players. The gameplay is straight forward. Guard the
would give them good harvest. Subsequently, gasing is
‘benteng’ and make sure that players from other teams
played on a flat open area by children and adults. However,
don’t touch it. Every player has a task, some have to guard
the gasing used by adults are much bigger in size and able
the ‘benteng’, some will chase and catch the member of
to spin for a longer time compared to ones used by kids
another team, and some will try to capture the other team’s
which are smaller in size. Gasing is made of wood and
base. This is one of the best traditional games for exercising
weighs around 0.5 to 1.0 kilograms.
since every player has to run to guard the ‘benteng’ and
catch other players.
Guli
Guli or known as marbles is one of the simpler games Gobak Sodor, Hadang, atau Galaksin
played back in the olden days. A game of Guli is suitable for
The name of this traditional game depends on where
both girls and boys aged between seven years old to twelve
you are from, but the gameplay and rules remain the same.
years old. Furthermore, number of players should not
Usually, the game is played on a badminton court or by
exceed five people. It is usually played on a flat open
drawing a 9x4m court and divide the court into 6 parts.
surface and a circle drawn with an approximately diameter
of 1 metre. This game is not as easy as it looks. This is The purpose of this game is to build teamwork
because, this game involves throwing a guli on the target between the guards so the opponents will not get out of
accurately. In addition, these marbles are very small and their position.
the type of guli used to play this game are the ones made of
Unfortunately, we won’t see kids play the game
limestone and its round.
unless it’s during the Independence Day.
.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM EAST TIMOR

Kalik
Hana Kalik is a target and shooting game. It requires
high accuracy at different distances. The Kalik is
accelerated and shot with a quick movement of the hand.
Players or teams that oppose each other try to shoot down
Ular Naga the Kalik of the opponents. This game is generally played by
children and young adults between 7-17 years of age.
"Ular naga panjangnya bukan Background Hana Kalik is a traditional game from Timor-
Leste. It was popular among children and young adults in a
kepalang~" that’s the snippet of the song pre-colonial time and during the colonialization era of
kids will sing while playing the traditional Portuguese. Hana Kalik is still well known especially among
game ular naga. Ular naga is played by at the elder population and in some rural areas the tradition is
still alive.
least 7 kids, 2 of them will take the role of
the guard while the rest try to walk past the
guard. The players only need to line up and Wari
hold the player in front of them on the This game is known as wari in East Timor. The wari
soldiers and walk past the guards. When the board has six cups called ‘houses and a reservoir at each
player’s each, to contain captured pieces. Players in rural
song ends, the guard will grab one player the places may simply make pits on the ground to play.
player that got caught is eliminated from the
Number of players: Two
game.
How to play: The game is similar to how it is played in
Singapore and Malaysia.
WARI is one of many similar board games played in
various parts of the world. Generically known as mancala
games, they have been played for thousands of years in
Egypt, where “boards” have been found carved into the
stone of the pyramid of Cheops and the temples at Luxor
and Karnak.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM LAOS TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM SINGAPORE

Goli
Pov Pob
is traditionally played with glass marbles (available
This is a ball tossing game with a difference: from redbean.sg) and there are many different ways to play
it’s a dating game, or more precisely a way for the game. The most popular version of goli involves either
mostly young people to find a husband or wife and placing all the players’ marbles in a circle drawn on the
it takes place every year during the New Year ground or lining the marbles up in a row. The players would
Festival. What happens is that two lines of people then stand at an agreed distance from where the marbles
were placed.
face other and balls are thrown by the participants.
If the ball is caught it is a sign of affection on the Each player would hold a marble in reserve to serve
part of the person catching the ball towards the as their ‘striker’. Players would then use the ‘striker’ to try
and knock as many marbles as possible out of the circle.
person who threw it
The player who knocks the most marbles is declared the
winner.

Tujlub
Chapteh
This is a spinning tops games played by men
and boys. The top is made from dense wood and Is a traditional game in Singapore that’s good for
attached to a 3 to 4 metre long piece of string. The improving dexterity, balance and aim. The chapteh itself, is
a rubber disc topped with brightly-coloured feathers. While
game normally involves two teams. The first team
there are many variations of playing with a chapteh,
will launch their tops, yanking on the string after the main objective is to keep it in the air for as long as
to make them rotate. The second team launches possible
their tops straight after with the objective of
striking the spinning tops of the first team. Points
are awarded for each strike.
 TRADITIONAL GAMES FROM VIETNAM

Bamboo Jacks (Choi Chuyen)

This is another popular traditional game, especially
Bola Tin among the girls. The game’s rule is simple, including tennis
or any bouncing ball and 10 chopsticks (5 pairs)
We still drink a ton of coffee now, but
How to play Bamboo Jacks:
back then, it was all kopi with plenty of
condensed milk. And what else would we do Starting with all of the chopsticks on the ground,
throw the ball upward, pick up a chopstick with one hand
with those empty tins but create a game out and catch the ball with the same hand. Continue until you
of them? With a pyramid stack of empty have picked up all the chopsticks on the ground. If a
condensed milk tins in the middle, Bola Tin player’s hands are not swift or if her eyes are not sharp, or
if she fails to coordinate the two, she will lose her turn.
splits the group into the “keepers” and Then the turn will pass to the next girl
“throwers”.
And their roles are exactly how they Mandarin Square Capturing (O An Quan)
sound, with the keepers responsible for Like Rong Ran Len May or Chuyen, O An Quan
protecting the tins while the throwers will (literally “Mandarin Box”) is also a very popular game played
aim to knock them down with a ball. Keepers by everyone. This 2-player-game is played on a rectangle on
the ground which is divided into ten small squares
will need to be careful of the ball since if hit, called “rice fields” or “fish ponds”. There are two
they will be immediately out of the game. more semi-circles drawn at the ends of the rectangle called
“mandarin boxes”. Each player has 25 small pebbles and a
large stone in which 50 smaller pebbles represent the
peasants and only 2 mandarins represented by bigger
stones. Each square has 5 pebbles that are placed in the
semi-circles.
 Dragon and Snake (Tro Rong Ran Len May)

Dragon and Snake game is one of several

famous Vietnamese traditional games that attract
every child in the country. Whenever having free
time, they often play it to have fun, which
expresses a part of Vietnam tradition and customs.
There are two players in this game including a
doctor and a long dragon with a tail. The long
dragon includes more than 5 people. The doctor
flies to attempt to catch the child who represents
the dragon tail. The head of the dragon stretches
his arms to prevent the doctor from finding his tail
while the tail tries to hide and form a circle.