Traditional Filipino Games 

TUMBANG PRESO
Every Filipino child knows this game. All
you need to play tumbang preso is a slipper
and a tin can. The person who is “it” guards
the tin can, and each player takes turns
trying to hit the can. Once a player hits the
can, they must retrieve the slipper and the
“it” will place the tin can back in position.
If the player does not hit the can, he will
become the next “it.”
PATINTERO
 Patintero is a game that involves many
players. They are divided into two teams.
This is one of those traditional Filipino games
you can often see children play on the streets.
Horizontal lines are drawn to signify the
position of the players on Team A. A vertical
line is drawn across the horizontal lines and
one player is assigned to thaT line.
 This is similar to the game of tag. The
objective of the game is for members of Team
B to cross all the lines and go back without
being touched by any of the players assigned
to the lines. The members of Team A can only
move in the direction of their assigned line.
LUKSONG BAKA
 Luksong baka literally means “jump
over a cow.” The player assigned to be
the “it” plays the cow. He starts off
crouching as low as he can while the
players jump over him. Gradually, the
“it” rises or moves up. If one of the
players does not leapfrog over him
successfully, that player will become
the new “it.”
 A variation of this came is
called luksong tinik or jump over
thorns. In that game, two players line
up their feet and hands to make a tower
while a third player tries to jump over.
PIKO
Piko is the Pinoy version of hopscotch. They throw the pamato, which
is usually a stone or small ball in one of the boxes drawn out in chalk.
Whoever successfully throws and retrieves the stone wins the game.
AGAWAN BASE
Agawan base is popular among elementary school students. There are two
teams who are each guarding their “base.” The objective of the game is to tag
or touch the base of the opposite team without being caught by that team.
If you are caught, you become their prisoner. Your own team members
may rescue you by tagging you from the enemy’s base. The teams set an
agreement of how many tags they can do before being declared winners.
BAHAY-BAHAYAN
 A role-playing game where children act as members of an imaginary family,
sometimes to the extent that one of them becomes the family "pet." They then act
out various household situations such as dinner, going to mass, and the like.
CHINESE GARTER
 Chinese garter or Chinese jump rope is popular among grade-school girls. All you need is a long
garter. There are two teams in this game. This game starts off easy, with the garter very low to the
floor, and everyone in the playing team has to cross from one side to the other by jumping over the
garter.
After each round is cleared, the garter progressively moves higher and higher.
If one of the playing team members does not successfully jump over the
garter, the other team gets their turn to play.
LANGIT-LUPA
Langit means heaven and lupa means earth. The “it” has to stay on the
earth while the other players try to stay in heaven. The “it” has to try
tagging the players so that they stay on earth and become the next “it.”
SAWSAW SUKA
In sawsaw suka, one of the players places his index finger in the palm of the other player’s hand and he
sings a chant. Once the chant ends, the player with the open palm has to try to catch the index finger.
TEKS
 Teks is a card game. It is played using standard size cards that are printed with cartoon
characters. Each player places a betting card on the floor, then the other players hits the
card with another card. If the betting card and the hitting card face the same way, the player
gets to keep all of them.
Many kids now prefer to stay indoors playing on
their gadgets or computers. These traditional
Filipino games need to be kept alive before they
are forgotten by the younger generation. The
government has pushed for these traditional
games to be taught to kids because they are such
an important part of our culture. In fact, some
universities in the country offer Philippine
Games as a PE subject as part of their way to
preserve Pinoy culture.