7 Old-School Games You Can Play If You Don’t Have An Internet Connection
These games are extremely cheap and sometimes even free to play, if you have the pieces you need lying around the house.
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Before the internet was available in every home and at the tips of our fingers, everyone had to entertain themselves with various games that were either made up in school, or traditional ones that date back centuries.
Some young people might not even know what these games are but if you grew up in the 80s and 90s, there’s a chance you may have come across or even played some of them.
Let’s start with one that dates all the way back to ancient times, and found its way here to the Malaysian peninsula.
Congkak / Southeast Asian Mancala
Congkak, derived from the word congak which means “mental arithmetics” in Malay, is believed to have originated from the Middle East where it is known as “Mancala” (the Arabic word for “move”).
The earliest discovery of the game was made in Jordan dating between 7,000BC and 5,000BC. It’s said to have been brought by Arab or African traders travelling to China and spread throughout Southeast Asia through merchants via the trading post in Melaka.
Congkak requires a wooden block known as papan congkak which has 16 to 18 holes carved out in two rows.
In the more commonly used 16-hole congkak board, 14 holes (7 for each player) are designated as “village” (kampung) while the two larger holes serve as “houses” (rumah) located on each end of the block.
Small game pieces such as marbles, seeds, or pebbles are used in the game as “counters”, although marbles are most commonly used in the game.
Congkak is a very old game with many beautiful boards, with some even handcrafted by artisans who have been making them for generations.
Here’s a handy video tutorial on how to play congkak:
Batu Seremban
Batu Seremban, also known as Selambut in the north and east coast regions of Malaysia, is a game of dexterity that involves 2 or more players.
All you need to play Batu Seremban are a few small round stones or pebbles, although these days the game is commonly played with triangular-shaped sachets filled with saga seeds.
The sachets, stitched together with cloth, come in all sorts of designs but are traditionally done with batik cloth.
The aim of the game is to toss a “batu” in the air, collect one from the ground, and catch the one that was tossed while still holding the one you just picked up from the ground.
To win the game, you must do this 5 times consecutively until there are no more stones on the ground.
If you fail to catch a stone, you’re eliminated and the last person who manages to do it without dropping the stone even once wins the game.
There are different levels to the game too, which progressively gets more difficult.
Gasing
These toys are a little rare nowadays but if you could get your hands on a couple or more, they’re really fun to play with some friends.
Gasing refers to a spinning top, which is a renowned traditional game in the state of Melaka. The name is a combination of two Malay words: “ga-” or “ka-” which refers to kayu or wood and pusing or “-sing” which means to spin.
Traditionally, Gasing was a popular pastime for farmers who believed that playing it would bring bountiful harvests. Playing it is no easy feat as it requires strength, skill, and speed.
First, you will need to wrap the rope around your finger or hand properly. The end of the rope should be tied around the wrist or pinky finger to ensure the rope doesn’t unravel.
The rope has to be winded neatly and tightly for more precision, power, and spin. A firm launch ensures that the top keeps spinning for a long time.
There are two ways to compete when playing Gasing: “Last Man Standing” or “Knockdown”.
In “Last Man Standing” or Gasing Uri, the last person to spin the longest wins while in “Knockdown” or Gasing Pangkah, one must knock their top against an opponent’s to disrupt their movements.
Check out how the pros do it:
Guli
Anyone who grew up in a Kampung will remember playing Guli with their friends and siblings.
Usually played on a flat open surface with a one-meter diameter circle drawn into the ground with marbles made of glass, the object of the game is to take turns flicking your own marbles at other players’ marbles in order to knock them out of the circle.
The game ends when there are no more marbles left inside the circle and the winner usually gets to keep all of the marbles for themselves.
Despite its simplicity, guli is a game that requires good hand-eye coordination in order to be able to hit every marble accurately.
Bottle caps
Also known as ceper or tutup botol, bottle caps is another simple game that originated in the 1970s.
As the name suggests, it is played using five metal bottle caps and requires two or more players.
The game begins by determining which player starts first with placing all five bottle caps on their palm. The player will then toss all of the caps into the air and must attempt to catch as many bottle caps as they can with the back of their hand before tossing them up again, repeating the process.
One bottle cap is worth two points and the player with the most points can begin the second part: spinning the bottle caps before using them to hit one another.
There are multiple configurations to the game too, as shown in this video:
Country flag eraser battle
If you were still in school in the 90s and early 2000s, you’ll remember those novelty erasers with country flags printed on them.
They were not just a collection, but also used in ‘eraser battles’, much to the annoyance of teachers who would confiscate them for being a disruption in class.
To play, two players will set their flag erasers on opposite ends of a table or desk. The aim of the game is to have one of the erasers land on top of the other.
Players will take turns to flip the erasers with their finger towards the opponent’s eraser. When one of the erasers successfully lands on top of the other, the player who owns the eraser on top wins the game.
Check out how it’s played:
Baling selipar
If you’re looking to play a game that costs almost nothing, Baling Selipar, or “Slipper Toss” is something you could get into with what you most probably already have at home.
All you need is a few pairs of old slippers or flip flops to stack into a little “teepee” and have one more to throw at the stack to knock them down. If you miss, the next person will attempt the challenge and as long as someone misses, the game will continue.
The first player to knock the slipper stack down three times in a row wins the game.
Alternatively, you could also get a bunch of old cans and stack them up into a pyramid and throw slippers at it to knock them down.
It may sound easy but you have to stand at a challenging distance, as well as have the skill to toss footwear that aren’t exactly designed to be aerodynamic.
What do you think of these games so far? They’re extremely low-budget but there’s a lot of fun to be had.
On top of that, you don’t need an electronic device or internet connection to play them. Sure there are loads of board games these days but they cost so much more and can be way more complicated to play as well.
The next time there’s a power blackout in your area, or internet services are down, you can always go back to these low-tech games to keep yourself and the entire family entertained for hours.
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