M’sians Share Their Favourite ‘Throwback’ Childhood Games You Can Play With Simple Household Items

By JUICE Malaysia  •  30 Aug 2022 in Sponsored

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Mobile apps and VR simulations may be revolutionary in the local gaming industry, but for some of us, there’s nothing quite like those minimalistic, budget-friendly games we used to set up using just a series of houseware- with or without our parents’ permission.

While these games are no longer ‘viral’ or the go-to thing for most kids, a substantial amount of Malaysian adults live day-to-day with sentimental, irreplaceable memories tied to their childhood thanks to the simple pleasures these games offered them.

What are they, you ask? We talked to 4 fun-loving Malaysians to find out:

1. Tin can ball toss

What better way to have fun and recycle than using colourful soda cans as makeshift targets, right?

The idea of the game is to stack the cans into rows, or one on top of the other; with the ultimate objective to have as many of them crashing to the ground as possible- using the weapon of your choice. Based on common nostalgic practice, your options mostly comprise of paper balls, rocks, coins or rubber bands (slingshot style).

And if your cans at home don’t look enticing enough, you can opt for adorning them to suit your own tastes. Take these for example:

“This is my top choice because the possibilities are truly endless. It was like mini bowling for my four siblings and I at home who always argued about what we were going to play before dinner, and we somehow always agreed on tin can ball toss.

“We’d make so much noise that our mother would confiscate our little newspaper balls, only for us to make more the next day… Hey, at least all our tin cans didn’t go to waste right?” jested Adrian, now 45 years of age, but still “very much in tune with his 10-year-old self.”

2. Bottle cap tic-tac-toe

Another recycle-friendly, popular way to have fun back in the day was via a classic game of tic-tac-toe- but some of our creative Malaysians used to add their own twist to it; and we find it soda-rn cute.

“Using bottle caps was a manner in which we expressed our simplicity, our innovativeness. You could easily walk into a shop to get a game set and play, but nothing beats buying a bottle of soda each just to pop the caps off and make a game out of it.

“With a few bottle caps, some chalk, and a couple of friends, I think I had the best years of my life sitting at that flat corridor laughing gleefully for hours at a time,” said Michelle, now 32 years old.

Just be careful not to cut your finger on the sharp edges! To curb unwanted accidents, Michelle also suggests shaving off the ‘spikes’ on the cap, or simply making sure to get edge-less, rounded ones that you can easily open and close.

3. Water bottle flip

“It feels like just yesterday that us kids were flipping bottles on essentially every desk we encountered. If you walked into an empty classroom, you could definitely expect to catch a few students huddled around a table practicing their bottle flipping skills,” said Kelvin, 30 this year.

“I noticed that the hype of the game came back recently, maybe 5-10 years ago, but this isn’t a new trend. I can almost hear the sound of giggling students in my head when I think about it- and yes, I was one of those who were splashed by an exploding bottle I flipped with too much force!” he added.

The objective of the game is a challenging one- that is, gripping the neck of the half-filled bottle and flipping it whole, with hopes for it to seamlessly land on its base.

4. Guess the flavour

@mr_tov How many would you get right? 😂#mrtov #tovfam ♬ original sound – 👑Mr Tov👑

Rebranded as a TikTok trend, apparently this is one other game that was cool long before the days of social media and repetitive background music.

‘Guess the Flavour’ is pretty much exactly what it sounds like- a fun challenge where one person has to guess the flavours of a series of drinks without being able to look at them. The other player(s) set it up by blindfolding the guesser or hiding the drinks with only the straws in sight.

“It looks easy but when you’re the blindfolded one, it can be quite confusing especially when you don’t get to see the options beforehand. I once guessed an orange soda was a banana one, although I’m not even sure those even existed back then,” said Adil, 29.

See, this was not only an interesting, challenging attempt at fun, but also an excuse to have a sweet treat. I know some of us wouldn’t hesitate to take a few extra sips of a refreshing soda, even as adults…

Speaking of refreshing sodas, Fanta is now offering you a chance to win some super cool prizes by following some super simple steps.

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1. Buy a Fanta/Sprite worth at least RM5.
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3. Answer the questions on the site. Winners will be judged based on the accuracy and timeliness of their responses!

Alternatively, you can head on over to Lazada or Shopee to get your hands on some participation packs from the comfort of your own home.

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Don’t bottle up your enthusiasm, and grab the chance while you can.

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