Filipino Games

Gone where the days when we used to play on the street together with our childhood friends. We enjoyed the fun of running, skipping, and teasing each other until the sun set....

Do you still remember those games that became part not only of our childhood memories but also our culture.

Trumpo
A top or trumpo is an egg-shaped toy made of hard wood, with one end tapering smaller. an iron nail is driven into the tapering point, leaving just about an inch of the nail jutting out. A string is wound around the base of the wooden top, beginning from the nail up toward the bigger end of the wooden top. To win, a player must be able to break or damage the opponent's tops by the skillful throwing of his own spinning top at them. A top with sharp, hard nail is of great help.




Sipa
A sipa is made of a flattened tansan (bottle cap) covered with straw or strips of paper with frilled edges. Every player must be equipped with this. This game is a contest in kicking the sipa with one foot continuously, without letting it drop. First, decide the mano or fist player by whatever method everyone agrees on. Next, agree on the number of succesful kicks to make one a winner.

Bunong Braso (Arm Wrestling)
The two players interlock their forearms and lean their elbows on a table or flat surface. With all their strength, they try to pin down the opponent's forearm on the table. Whoever does so first is the winner.

Sagam/Sintak (Jackstone)
Choose the mano or first player: One of the players hides both his closed hands behind him, with one hand secretly holding a stone. The opponet guesses which of the player's hands has the stone. If he guesses right, he plays first; if not the other player gets the first turn.When a player misses or fails in a move, such as dropping a stone or failing to catch the pamato, he stops and the opponent takes his turn. If the latter fails or commits a foul, the first player resumes from where he stopped. This manner of taking turns continues until one of the players finishes the game first.The player who finishes the game first is the winner.



Remembering these games brings back the fun of being a kid and uplifts the Filipino spirits of camaraderie with one another.