Traditional games in the Philippines
are games commonly played by children, usually using native materials or instruments. In the Philippines, due to limited resources of toys of Filipino children, they usually come up on inventing games without the need of anything but the players themselves. With the flexibility of a real human to think and act makes the game more interesting and challenging.
A few decades ago, kids used to gather in the streets or in their neighborhood playground to play their favorite Larong Pinoy games like piko, patintero, taguan, tumbang preso, siato, luksong tinik, etc. These has been their regular and popular pastimes, as well as the favorite games of their parents and grandparents until new and modern forms of entertainment has taken over the interests of young kids.
Patintero or harangang daga - try to cross my line without letting me touch or catch you - there's five members 5 in each group. Each member of the group who is it stands on the water lines. The perpendicular line in the middle allows the it designated on that line to intersect the lines occupied by the it that the parallel line intersects, thus increasing the chances of the runners to be trapped.even only one(1) member of a group is tagged the whole group will be the "it"
Luksong-Baka (lit. jump over the cow) is a popular variation of Luksong Tinik. One player crouches while the other players jump over him/her. The crouching player gradually stands up as the game progresses, making it harder for the other players to jump over him/her.Then he will be the taya if he dangled it the baka. It will repeat again and again until the players declare the player or until the players decide to stop the game.
Piko is the Philippine variation of the game. The players stand behind the edge of a box, and each should throw their cue ball. The first to play is determined depending on the players' agreement (e.g. nearest to the moon, wings or chest). Whoever succeeds in throwing the cue ball nearest to the place that they have agreed upon will play first. The next nearest is second, and so on.
Agawang sulok (lit. catch and own a corner) the it or tagger stands in the middle of the ground. The players in the corners will try to exchange places by running from one base to another. The it should try to secure a corner or base by rushing to any of those when it is vacant. This is called "agawan base" in some variants, and "bilaran" in others.
Bulong-Pari - whisper it to the priest - It is composed of two teams and an it. The leader of team A goes to the priest and whispers one of the names of the players of team B. Then he returns to his place and the priest calls out, "Lapit!" ("Approach!"). One of the players of team B should approach the priest, and if it happens to be the one whom the leader of team A mentioned, the priest will say, "Boom" or "Bung!" The player then falls out of line and stays somewhere near the priest as a prisoner.
Iring-Iring - go round and round until the hanky drops - After the it is determined, he or she goes around the circle and drops the handkerchief behind a person. When the person notices the handkerchief is behind his/ her back, he or she has to pick up the handkerchief and go after the it around the circle. The it has to reach the vacant spot left by the player before the it is tagged; otherwise, the it has to take the handkerchief and repeat the process all over again.
Ubusan lahi - game of conquer - One tries to conquer the members of a group (as in claiming the members of another's clan). The tagged player from the main group automatically becomes an ally of the tagger. The more players, the better. The game will start with only one it and then try to find and tag other players. Once one player is tagged, he or she then will help the it to tag the other players until no other participant is left. Some people also know this a Bansai.
Tsato - stick game, better be good at it - Two players, one flat stick (usually 3') and one short flat piece of wood (4" usually a piece cut from the flat stick).
Player A hitter and Player B as the catcher. Played outside on the ground where you dig a small square hole (slanted) where you put the small wood so it sticks out.
Player A hits the wood with the stick so it catches air enough to be hit by the stick.
The further the wood gets hit the more points you get (usually counted by the number of stick length
Player B on the other hand has to anticipate and catch the small piece of wood to nullify the points and become his turn OR looks forward to Player A to miss hitting the wood.
Sipa - game of Sick - The object being used to play the game is also called sipa. It is made of a washer with colorful threads, usually plastic straw, attached to it. The sipa is then thrown upwards for the player toss using his/her foot. The player must not allow the sipa to touch the ground by hitting it several times with his/her foot, and sometimes the part just above the knee. The player must count the number of times he/she was able to kick the sipa. The one with most number of kicks wins the game.
The game mechanics of Sipa is patterned after the Western game called Hopscotch. Sipa is also played professionally by Filipino athletes with a woven ball, called Sepak Takraw, with game rules borrowed from our Southeast Asian neighbor, Indonesia.
Teks or teks game cards - texted game cards - Filipino children collect these playing cards which contain comic strips and texts placed within speech balloons. They are played by tossing them to the air until the cards hit the ground. The cards are flipped upwards through the air using the thumb and the forefinger which creates a snapping sound as the nail of the thumb hits the surface of the card. The winner or gainer collect the other players' card depending on how the cards are laid out upon hitting or landing on the ground
Palo-sebo - greased bamboo pole climbing - This game involves a greased bamboo pole that players attempt to climb. This games is usually played during town fiestas, particularly in the provinces. The objective of the participants is to be the first person to reach the prize—a small bag—located at the top of the bamboo pole. The small bag usually contains money or toys.
