(traditional) games we used to play

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It was the first time I've heard of The Game of the Generals, a strategy board game invented by Sofronio Pasola, Jr., over lunch the other day. With this, the table talk went towards games Pinoy kids used to play (before the heyday of computer games). These games brought to mind late afternoons on the road, participating in physically challenging games, or under the shade while the sun was still up in the sky, playing board games. Nowadays, it's either the kids aren't allowed to play on the road or they opt to play computer games. For me, that's quite sad.

Sungka. This is the Filipino version of a traditional game played all over SE Asia called Congkak (1). It is played in a wooden board with eight depressions (seven small and one big depression) for each player. Seven seeds (or stones, or cowrie shells) are placed per small depression. To win, a player must place more pieces in the big depression assigned to him/her. It is a highly mathematical game and it hones one's strategy skills; to collect more seeds than his opponent, the player has to think two or three steps ahead. 


Tumbang Preso. This is a popular street game that sharpens one's marksmanship and agility. Players aim to hit an upright empty can by throwing a slipper at it from a distance. Once the can is toppled over, the player guarding it (the "it") chases after the players whose slippers are inside the circle surrounding the can (2, photo). 

Luksong Tinik. The object of the game is to jump (lukso) over thorns (tinik) represented by the outstretched legs of two players seated on the ground. As the jumper clears the thorns, the "thorn builders" increase the thorns' height by adding one hand at a time, with outstretched fingers, on top of the feet (3, photo).

Dr. Quack Quack. One game I was wary about playing because it involves some degree of pain, but it's one of my favourites nevertheless. The "patients" form a circle, hold hands, and twist their bodies: legs over arms, arms over heads. The "it" (the "doctor"), previously not watching the other players, tries to untangle the players from each other.

Back in the day, kids socialised on the sidestreets, playing physically exhausting games under the sun. Today's kids? Many of them are spending their afternoons indoors, communicating over the net and playing mentally exhausting games instead. This, however, does not include that bunch of kids who made Legarda Street in Manila their giant playground tonight, crossing the roads just when the traffic lights turned green... and dodging oncoming traffic in the process.

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