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View all search resultsCommunities bring traditional games back to contemporary life
A renewed interest in traditional games has led to a shift from digital screens to schoolyards and playgrounds, as well as adults joining in on the fun at parks and festivals.
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Children play a game that involves jumping over a rope on June 19, 2025, during an event organized by Traditional Games Returns (TGR), a community that promotes and preserves Indonesian folk games. (Courtesy of /TGR)
W
hen Aghnina Wahdini first proposed her initiative Traditional Games Returns (TGR) as a university assignment in 2016, she never imagined it would grow into a vibrant community that brings together hundreds of people aiming to revive Indonesia’s vanishing folk games.
She now leads TGR in promoting traditional games across Greater Jakarta, offering an offline alternative to a generation increasingly absorbed in digital screens. The community believes these hands-on games are vital for stimulating both physical and cognitive development, aspects that are often neglected in virtual environments.
“Thank God, we have seen growing enthusiasm from the public over time,” said Aghnina, 28, saying that more schools and companies were inviting TGR to organize events featuring traditional games.
The community regularly organizes public gatherings where both children and adults can play old-school games such as egrang, which involves walking on bamboo stilts, and damdas, a board game similar to checkers.
Last month, dozens of children gathered at a child-friendly public space (RPTRA) in Central Jakarta to play engklek, a local version of hopscotch, with each square containing a message promoting a smoke-free future.
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According to TGR volunteer Salsha Rahmadanita, 26, the community’s efforts do not only revolve around fun and nostalgia, but also focus on developmental and educational purposes.
