Loghob Tradizzjonali Malti

This fast-paced game is great fun and excellent for a vigorous work out. The game is played over quite a large area and involves one player throwing a ball high into the air, while calling the name of another player, who must then scramble to catch the ball before it hits the ground.

As children we would often spend many hours in competitive battle trying to win our friends marbles.  It was both a fierce competition and a source of pride for a child to have won the most marbles or in some cases the most spectacular since the marbles came in various colours and designs.

Talk about culturally unique, Brilli is an unusual type of skittles game adults played only in the small village of Gharb in Gozo.   Brilli dates back to before the reign of the Knights of St. John. The game resembles indoor ten pin bowling, but is played outdoors, with only 9 wooden skittles and using a wooden ball. The rules are a bit complicated.

Many kinds of toys were hand-made for children: wooden ducks, dogs, horses, trains, trucks, doll houses and tops (“ċippitotu”). Girls played with cloth dolls, knitted toys, pretended to be housewife and enjoyed making buns with mud.

One of the more unusual games is ic-Circu.  Even if you have never seen any-one playing this game in real life you may have seen it on old time movies that use the game to typify a pre-1960s era and closely associated with the central Mediterranean.

A very simple but very popular game that used to be played in the streets of Maltese villages and is now sadly all but redundant, was the game of Il-Fatt.

Unlike some of the other games il-Gbid tal-Habel is about strength rather than strategy or hand eye coordination.  You don’t have to be so old to remember this game, but it is far less popular than it was when many of us were kids.

As many of us know, the roads of Malta were significantly less trafficked than they are today, and this allowed many of the young to partake in games, usually races using scooters and go carts, made simply but made to last.

Perhaps the oldest game played by the Maltese is bocci.   During the time of the knights of St John, a game called ‘Maghio’ was played in Malta and it resembled closely the game came to be known as Bocci.  There is a great deal of evidence that bocci existed in Malta for a long time.

Il-Loghba tal-Maktur is much like Ballun Stop in its level of energy and excitement, however this game is played with two opposing teams battling to obtain a handkerchief.

Il-Qbiz tal-ħabel (skipping rope) in some form has been around since ancient days and no-one can definitively say where or when it originated, however it is known that the ancient Phoenicians and Egyptians skipped rope and within Europe it became popular with the Dutch who, in the 16^th century exported the activity to America.

Il-Qbiz tal-Lastiku is a highly energetic games which very much tests the balance and fitness of the participants.  As the names imply, Il-Qbiz tal-Lastiku is played with a long elastic band and was popular in the past mostly with young school aged girls.

Modern slingshots date back to around 1839, when American chemist Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber used in the slingshots. This small toy and simple weapon was a favourite with children, especially amongst young boys.

Like many other old-time games, the origin of It-Tlieqlaq ta ‘Tliet Saqajn (3 legged race) or three legged race is obscure but it certainly came to Malta by the British who very much love the game.

Passju (Hopscotch in English) began in ancient Britain during the early Roman Empire. The original hopscotch courts were over 100 feet long and used for military training exercises. Roman foot-soldiers ran the course in full armour and field packs to improve their footwork, much the same way modern football players run through rows of truck tires today.

A common game played under many varieties in many cultures from around the world-Malta included.

For you to remember the earlier forms of these you would have to be in your 50s or perhaps even 60s.  These spinning tops were wonderfully made and were built for simple fun and to stand the test of time.  If you offer one of these to a young child it’s sure to hold their attention for a long span of time.