11 Traditional Indonesian Children's Games & How to Play them

It is undeniable that the development of the gaming industry in Indonesia has eroded the existence of traditional types of games that are slowly being abandoned. Especially today’s millennial generation who prefer to play online games rather than playing this game that is considered old school.

Playing games on cellphones is fun, but it turns out that the traditional Indonesian games below are no less fun, you know, compared to many types of online games out there. Let’s see what games are there, while reminiscing about this very popular 90s old school game.

Hide and seek

The first game that is no less exciting than online games is hide and seek. I don’t know who created this game in the first place. That said, this game has existed since the 2nd century known as Apodidraskinda. This type of traditional game of hide and seek is not only popular in Indonesia, but also in several countries.

In Israel, for example, this game is known as Machboim, while the people of South Korea call it Sumbaggoggil. In Indonesia alone by the Javanese people, hide and seek is known by the name Delican, while the Sundanese call it Chopsticks. Even though they have different names, the rules in this game remain the same, namely hide and seek.

Hide and seek can be played with a minimum of two players, but it will be more fun if it involves more players. Thinking back to the past, the most fun thing about playing hide and seek is finding friends who are hiding. Where when looking for players who are hiding, the guard must also guard his fort from other players.

Old children used to play hide and seek in the afternoon before sunset by inviting more than 10 small children to play together. Well, if someone plays it at night, it’s called a lack of work, who are you playing with?

Bekel Ball

As the name suggests, to be able to play this traditional game you need several items such as balls and bekel seeds. At first glance this game looks easy, but in fact it is not as easy as imagined. It takes good cooperation between eye foresight and hand speed when tossing the bekel ball up.

There are six bekel seeds that must be grasped with only one hand along with the ball. When the ball is tossed up, the six bekel seeds in the hand must be released simultaneously. When the ball is in a bouncing position and can only bounce once, the player must pick up one bekel as quickly as possible. Generally, bekel ball is played by girls. But not a few boys who also play it.

Gundu or Marble

This uniquely patterned little one has long been part of the game that accompanies childhood. Gundu may be rarely found in urban areas, but in the suburbs of Indonesia, which still has a strong traditional feel, marbles or gundu are still a game that children in rural areas often play to fill their spare time.

Playing marbles can’t be done alone, you have to find at least one more person to play against. As with other traditional games, playing marbles will be more exciting if played with a large number of players, especially for all the children in it.

There are at least four ways to play marbles that are often used, the first is the game of marbles by making circles, arrows, holes, and domes. The rules of playing the mound are quite simple, if our mound hits some other mound, the opponent’s mound will be ours.

Jump rope

The next traditional game that is no less exciting than online games is jumping rope. Generally, the rope used in this game comes from a rubber band that has been spun in such a way to form a long rope to jump over.

How to play jump rope is quite easy, prepare two people as rope holders and the other is in charge of jumping over rubber with various height obstacles. Starting from the ankles, knee high, as high as the stomach, at the chest level, at the neck level, at the ears, at the head until the independence (hands raised up). If there is a player who manages to jump over the last height he is the winner.

stilts

It is not known exactly where the stilts came from, but some say that this type of traditional game was popularized by the people of Indonesia, especially the Jakarta area (you can’t really find out for yourself). Unlike jumping rope, playing stilts can be played individually.

Stilts are made simply by using a bamboo stick (straight) with a length of more than one meter. The essence of the game of stilts is to maintain body balance. Without good balance, players will often fall. The height of the stilts varies, usually depending on the player’s height. What is clear, when playing stilts, the player’s body position will be higher like someone climbing on a table.

Fort or Gobak Sodor

Fort Sodor or Gobak Sodor is a group or group game, where each group is filled with about 3-5 people. Each group will take turns blocking the opponent so that they cannot cross the line to the last line back and forth.

Gobak Sodor is usually played in the field by making rectangular grid lines from chalk. Like war games, gobak sodor also requires a strategy to win the game. One strategy is to divide the group members into attackers and guards.

For group members who get the task of guarding, they must guard the fort from opponents who want to pass through the fort. Meanwhile, group members who are assigned as attackers must try to find gaps in order to get past the opponent’s line.

Benthic or Gatric

This is the cheapest traditional game ever, only with 2 pieces of wood or small bamboo you can play Gatrik. Generally the wood or bamboo used resembles a stick measuring about 30 cm and other wood is smaller.

How to play Gatrik is quite easy, first put wood or bamboo between two stones, then hit the bamboo with a longer wood. If any player fails to hit or miss then he will be punished. Usually the punishment is to carry with a benchmark the distance from the stone to the small bamboo that is hit.

Ball Boy

Boy’s ball is played by using a baseball and precarious shards arranged in piles. First determine one person as a guard, where the determination of this guard can be done by suit, hompimpa, gambreng or gola kopit.

Each player (except the guard) will throw a baseball into the precarious pile until it collapses. When the ball hits a critical and collapses, the guard must pick up the ball and throw it until it hits another player. When the keeper is busy throwing the ball, other players can take the opportunity to reassemble the fallen pile.

Long Dragon Snake

This game is called dragon snake because in this game players will make a long line like a snake. In the past, this game was very popular with children because it was easy to play. Dragon snake players are usually played by about 5-10 people with a vulnerable age of about 5 to 12 years.

Two people will serve as guards facing each other and holding hands to form a gate, while the other players will move in a circle through the gate while singing the song Long Dragon Snake. When the song ends, the gatekeeper will catch the line of children moving past underneath. More or less like this song lyrics:

The dragon snake is absurdly long, Crawling always here and there, That delicious bait sought, Now she’s the last one

knock

This game is certainly familiar to our ears, especially the people in the village. It is said that engklek is not the original game of the Indonesian people, but was brought by the Dutch to the archipelago with the traditional name “zondag-mandaag” or in English it is called hopscotch.

Engklek games are very diverse in form, generally engklek is played by utilizing a flat area drawn in the form of a box, plane, mountain or propeller using chalk or tiles.

Engklek is played by jumping with one foot on each box that has been made. However, players are allowed to put both feet at the same time, especially for boxes that are next to each other like wings. Each jump is done sequentially starting from the box closest to the player to the box at the very end.

Kite

Among the many traditional games in Indonesia, kite is one of the most popular games. This is because kites are one of the games that are still often played by children and adults to this day, be it in big cities or in the countryside.

Kites are usually played in an open area (not possible at home), the goal is of course to make it easier to fly because they get enough wind gusts. One of the interesting things in this game is how to tie the rope at the end and middle which is said to really determine the direction of flight. Will the kite fly smoothly or will it spin around until it finally catches up?

Another unforgettable memory when playing a kite is when a kite breaks. Spontaneously the children will run after the kite even though the distance is very far. There are special taboos that should not be done in this game, namely do not play kites when it rains. Instead of flying, your kite is limp and torn.

So, are there any of you who still like some types of traditional games from Indonesia above? No less fun, isn’t it the best online game available today? stay tuned for the latest and updated news about games, anime and gadgets only at Kabar Games.

Share :