Halo!
To celebrate national (and international?) Children’s Day on 23rd of July, I’m writing about some traditional games children in Indonesia typically, or not, play, both by themselves or with their friends. I got this inspiration from a calendar a bank gave my grandma, though when I talk about it with my aunt, apparently she didn’t play nor know all of them. It might be that some of these games are not really ‘traditional’ but rather a quite modern take, or that the region in which she grew up in doesn’t play these games.
Admittedly, it’s not like adults can’t play these games too. But, like anywhere in the world, ‘adults’ think it’s not mature to play such games unless it’s made into a competition with a prize.
As with traditional games from other countries, some Indonesian traditional games need tools whilst others don’t need a particular tool other than the player(s)’s body parts, like hands. Anyway, firstly, here are some Indonesian traditional games which I think are quite unique to Indonesia, sorted alphabetically.
ABC 5 DASAR
This game involves a minimum of three players and their fingers. Firstly, the players agreed on the category to be guessed, such as fruits, animals, or countries. Then, all players throw out some or all or none of their fingers whilst saying “ABC ada berapa”, which means “how many ABCs are there”. Afterwards, the total number of fingers thrown out is counted in line with alphabet, so the first finger is A, the second finger is B, and so on. If the alphabet has reached Z and there are leftover fingers, start over from A. Lastly, the players have to say the names of object/subject in the agreed upon category which started with the last letter. For example, if there are nine fingers being shown, which means the last letter is I, and the agreed category is country name, then players have to race to say country names which started with I, such as India or Italy, as fast as possible.
ANGKAT JEMPOL
Played by a minimum of two people, this game started by showing both hands clenched in a way that showed your thumbs. The players alternated in saying a number out loud while lifting or not lifting one or both thumbs. If the number of lifted thumbs corresponds with the number being called out, the player who says the number can put one of his/her hand on their back. The one who has both hands on their back first becomes the winner.
BAKIAK
If you’ve seen my post on Indonesian independence day, you’ll know at least the name of this game and tool. Bakiak is actually a tool made of long wood plank as sandal-like footwear for three or more people simultaneously, in accordance to the number of slots on the bakiak used. Like the sandal version of tandem bike, if you will. This game is often made into a race, where some groups with the same number of players race on top of bakiak to reach the finish line first.
BENTENGAN
This game is called “bentengan”, or “fortress”, because the two opposing teams have to guard their own pole/wall/base which becomes their fortress/house from their opponents. A bit like capture the flag, I suppose, though without the flag. If you read or watched the novel/manga/anime Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (The Irregular at Magic High School), especially the nine-school competition arc, then this is kinda like their monolith code but without the code and less…violent.
CONGKLAK / DAKON
This game is played by two players using a long oval board, usually made from wood but recently made with plastic, with 6 to 10 small holes on both sides and 1 big hole at each end of the board. The small holes are then filled with the same number of small nuts, shells, or stones, though I used plastic coffee-bean-like seeds more often than not, usually 4 to 7 beans in each hole, whilst the two big holes remain empty at the start of the game. The first player takes all beans from one of his/her small hole then moves counter-clockwise whilst dropping one bean into each hole he/she passes including his/her big hole and the opponent’s small holes, but excluding the opponent’s big hole. If the last bean dropped into his/her big hole, he/she can start again (AKA his/her turn doesn’t end). If the last bean dropped in a small hole that has bean(s), regardless of whose hole it belongs to, then the player takes all the beans in that hole and keeps going counter-clockwise until the last bean dropped into an empty hole. In this case, if that last bean dropped into his/her empty small hole, then he/she can take all his opponent’s beans which are located right across the corresponding hole and drop them all into his/her big hole before ending his/her turn. Both players alternate until no beans are left in the small holes. The player with the most beans in his/her big hole is the winner.
CUBLAK-CUBLAK SUWENG
In this game, which needs at least 3 players, one player bowed down and tucked in his/her head whilst the other players surround him/her with their hands placed on top of his/her back, singing the Cublak-Cublak Suweng song and alternated in holding a small stone in their palms. Considering the game is said to have originated in Central Java, the song is also in (casual/rude/not polite speech) Javanese. The lyric is as follows:
Cublak-cublak suweng
Suwenge ting gelenter
Mambu ketundhung gudel
Pak empong lera lere
Sapa ngguyu ndhelikkake
Sir sir, pong dhele kopong (2x)
Rough translation:
Earring box
The earrings are messy
Smelt like ran-away buffalo calf
The toothless sir shakes his head
The one who laughs is the one who hides it
Conscient, empty soybean has no filling (2x)
Once the song ended, the player who was bowing down had to guess who exactly held the stone. To successfully do this, the player has to judge the others’ gestures and expressions.
EGRANG
Egrang, which is actually the tool used in this game, is a pair of long bamboo poles affixed with a foot platform in which the player must balance their feet on said poles and walk. I’ve also mentioned this game in my post on Indonesian independence day, but the gist is that the players would race on top of egrang to reach the finish line. Sometimes, obstacles are added to increase the challenge and excitement.
GOBAK SODOR
In this game, there are two teams of 3 to 5 players each: offense and defense teams. The defense team tries to block their opponent from passing the border lines (usually there are 3 border lines with 1-2 defenders per line), whilst the offense team endeavors to pass the guards of each line one by one. The offense team wins if all its members successfully pass all lines and back again within the allocated time, whilst the defense team wins if the offense team fails to do so.
KOTAK POS
Kotak pos, literally translated as ‘mailbox’ is the name of a game which involves a minimum of three players. In this game, players sit cross-legged in a circle and place their right hand, palm up, on top of other player’s left hand. Then, all players sing and, in a wave-like movement, alternate in clapping other player’s right hand which sits on top of his/her left hand. When the song is finished, the last player whose right hand got clapped becomes the loser and must receive a punishment/do a challenge.
SLEBOR / ULAR NAGA PANJANG
In this game, two players hold each others’ hands up above to form a gate from which other players can pass through. Then another player who is dubbed as the leader walks through, followed by other players who hold on to the waist/shoulders of the player in front of him/her, forming a snake dragon (ular naga). The dragon walks under the tunnel whilst singing. When the song stops, the gates will quickly pull down their hands to capture one of the players. The captured baby dragon must choose whether to go to the right or left gate. The game is then continued until all dragon children have been captured. In the last part, the left and right gates filled with kids pull the other team, like a human tug-of-war.
I recently watched an episode of a South Korean variety show, 2 Days & 1 Night, and was quite surprised when they have a quite similar game called Dong, Dong, Dongdaemun. My grandma was equally surprised because, as far as she knows, this game came from the Dutch when they colonized Indonesia.
TEPUK TANGAN
This game, which simply means ‘clapping hands’, is played by two people who went through a series of hand clapping movements while singing a song, though sometimes no song is used as the players need to concentrate the longer this game goes on. The most common clapping movements are as follows: 1) Clap your own hands then clap your right hand to your opponent’s right hand; 2) Clap your own hands then clap your left hand to your opponent’s left hand; 3) Clap your own hands then do a chest-level high-five; and 4) Clap your own hands then tap you own shoulders and knees. After the first set is done, the movements are repeated in accordance to the set number. For example, the second set consists of movement 1 two times, followed by movement 2 for two times, then movement 3 twice, and movement 4 also twice, continued straight away with the third set where movement 1 is done three times, followed by movement 2 thrice, then movement 3 for three times, and movement 4 thrice, and so on until one of the players make a mistake and stopped the game.
Next, here are some other traditional games, and playground games, which I think is also played in other parts of the world or is familiar to many people (so I won’t really explain them all):
ADU JEMPOL (THUMB WAR)
AYUNAN (SWING)
BADMINTON
Badminton is widely played by all Indonesians, though generally not professionally. Most of the time, we simply play on the street in front of our houses or on the rooftop if there is space, using a racket and shuttlecock without a proper net nor boundary lines.
BEKEL (KNUCKLEBONES)
Indonesian knucklebones game, called bekel, uses a gum ball which can bounce quite high and small gold or silver-coloured iron…projectiles? (I don’t know what they’re called in English, but they look like the picture below). Anyway, there are two ways of playing bekel. The first, and the one more commonly done world-wide, is played by throwing up the ball and taking one of the projectiles before catching the ball. The second way is done by throwing up the ball and flipping the projectiles before catching the ball. Admittedly, the second way is easier to do.
ENGKLEK (HOPSCOTCH)
Englek has been around in Indonesia since the Dutch colonization era, and is said to have originated in the UK. The border lines are 6 rows of squares, lined up from top to bottom with the fifth box adorned with other boxes on its left and right side to make a T (or more like the Christian cross), made on the ground using chalk or even simply using the tiles in your house. The first player throws a small stone to one of the squares and proceeds to go to said square using one leg, except when he/she lands on the fifth box. If he/she misses the squares, his/her turn is over.
GASING (SPINNING TOP)
Indonesian traditional spinning top is made out of wood shaped in such a way that the bottom part becomes sharp. The players then spin their tops, using rope or just by spinning the knob on the top, and the one whose top spins to the end among the other tops is declared as the winner.
JUNGKAT-JUNGKIT (SEE-SAW)
KELERENG (MARBLE GAME)
In this game, players flick their marbles on by one and try to push out the opponent(s)’s marble out of the agreed upon circular ring. I think the concept is the same world-wide.
KOTAK PASIR (SAND BOX)
LAYANGAN / LAYANG-LAYANG (FLYING KITE)
Layang-layang is actually the Indonesian word for ‘kite’, though it can be used to refer to this game too, with the word ‘layang’ itself can mean ‘soar’. There are two types of kite here: The first one is simply used to have fun in flying the kite, with tail(s) for balancing the kite; the second one has no tail and is played by trying to cut others’ kites. This is why broken kites can often be found stuck on top of trees or among electricity cables.
LOMPAT TALI MERDEKA (JUMP ROPE, though this one literally means ‘independence jump rope’)
Different from the usual jump rope, which we also have, this one uses rubber bands braided together until they become a rope (I don’t know where I learned to do the braid, but all of my friends can do that, oddly enough). Then the player jumps over the rope which is held higher and higher, from knee-height, chest-height, until the highest point where the holders hold the rope up above their head and the jumper says “Merdeka!” (“Independent!”). As the name suggests, this game is done in particular to commemorate Indonesian independence day, though in practice the concept and tool can be used just like any other jump rope.
PANJATAN (JUNGLE GYM)
PEROSOTAN (SLIDE)
PETAK UMPET (HIDE AND SEEK)
The rule is probably very simple and familiar to a lot of us: one player closes their eyes and counts until the agreed upon number whilst the other players hide. Once he/she finishes counting, he/she must go and look for the other players, and the first player to be found will become the next seeker while the last player to be found is the winner. Another version is played the same way, but when the first seeker is looking for the other players, they can run back to the agreed upon home base and they will be in the clear once they touch the wall/tree/object designated as the home base. The second version can be said to resemble baseball a bit.
Lastly, in particular, I want to introduce the three types of rock-paper-scissors-like games we have in Indonesia. They are:
GAJAH, SEMUT, MANUSIA AKA ‘SUWIT’ OR ‘SUIT’
In this game, all player simultaneously throws out either their little finger (ant), index finger (human), or thumb (elephant) as desired. If you’ve read my post about elephant and ant fable, you’ll know the rule: If index finger meets thumb, thumb wins; If thumb meets little finger, little finger wins; If little finger meets index finger, index finger wins; If the same finger meets, it’s a draw. Though considering we already have the rock-paper-scissors game, which will be explained right after this, this suwit is also often played not as a rock-paper-scissor but by playing something like a hand version of tic-tac-toe. The concept is the same, but all three fingers are up from the beginning. By defeating your opponent’s finger, you can eliminate said finger. The one who still has finger(s) up left at the end is the winner.
GUNTING-BATU-KERTAS AKA ‘SUWIT/SUIT JEPANG’
(ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS)
The concept of this game is exactly like the rock-paper-scissors game, though the name is a bit different (the Indonesian version said ‘scissors-rock-paper’ instead). As you’ve probably experienced, the game can end in a draw. This possibility increased when playing with more people, which is why we have the next type, ‘hompimpa alaium gambreng’.
HOMPIMPA ALAIUM GAMBRENG (or simply ‘hompimpa’)
The game hompimpa is played to determine the first player in other games with many players and is accompanied not by singing a song but by saying the sentence “Hompimpa alaium gambreng”, which in Sanskrit means “From God, Back to God, Let us Play”. ‘Hompimpa alaium’ is said while shaking your hand, then on the syllable ‘gam-’ the hand is lifted, and on the syllable ‘-breng’ all children show either their palm or the back of their hand. The hand part with the most or least number, depending on the agreement, becomes the winner or loser. As it uses majority count, it cannot be used when there are only two players left, so the last two, if any, usually play rock-paper-scissors to determine the final winner/loser.
That’s all for today’s post. Ah, it’s been a long time since I last (have enough number of friends together to) play any of those games….
Anyway, we actually have some more traditional games here in Indonesia, but I’m not familiar with them so I opted to exclude them for now. If you know another game and want to put it here, feel free to contact me^^
Thanks for reading!
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