Sixteen ways to play.

Pithoo

Seven flat stones, an old tennis ball, and grass-stained shins.

Tumbang Preso

Knock the can. Outrun the prisoner. Filipino street legend.

Molkky

Numbered pins. Throw the molkky. Land exactly fifty.

Kubb

Wooden batons, ten kubbs, one king. Knock 'em flat.

Gorodki

Russian wooden-pin knockdown. Fifteen formations.

Kabaddi

One breath. Touch a defender. Get back across the line.

Kho Kho

Sit in a line. Run in a chain. Tag the last runner before they reach.

Patintero

Cross the lines. Don't get tagged. Filipino schoolyard classic.

Stapu

Chalked grid on the verandah. Hop on one foot. Claim a square.

Engklek

Indonesian hopscotch. Toss a stone into a chalked square.

Four Square

Asphalt grid. Bounce. Don't get sent down to D.

Oware

Akan mancala. Twelve pits, forty-eight seeds.

Bao

Swahili mancala. Carved board. Hours under the mango tree.

Pallankuzhi

Tamil mancala — two rows, fourteen pits, cowrie shells.

Morabaraba

Tswana three-in-a-row turning into mill capture.

Genna

Ethiopian alignment-mill played with pebbles.

Seega

Drawn in the sand. Capture by sandwich.

Lattu

Wind the rope. Throw the top. Outspin or be knocked.

Beigoma

Iron-cast top. String wound, snapped, spun on a sheet.

Gasing

Heavy wooden spinning top. Some weigh five kilograms.

Kanche

Glass marbles on dirt. Flick. Win the marbles you knock out.

Carrom

Powdered board. Striker thump. Cover the queen.

Crokinole

Wooden disc-flick board. Mennonite parlor classic.

Patang

Lahore rooftop sunset. Manjha line. Wo kaata.

Gudiparan Bazi

Kabul kite-fighting on Friday afternoons.

Kendama

Wooden cup-and-ball. Three cups, one spike, one persistent ball.

Mokshapat

The original snakes-and-ladders, with each square a karma.

Ludo

Roll a six to start. Knock the others home.

Royal Game of Ur

Five-thousand-year-old Mesopotamian race game.

Belote

French trick-taking card game. Trumps and partnerships.

Briscola

Italian forty-card trick-taking game. Pizzeria staple.

Durak

Russian fool. Attack, defend, transfer. Last left is the durak.

Antakshari

Sing a song. Last consonant starts the next. The bus ride game.

Ampe

Clap, jump, foot-out — Ghanaian schoolyard chant.

Tippy Tippy Tap

Hand-tap chant: tippy tippy tap, what colour do you want?

Batu Seremban

Five small fabric pillows. Toss-and-catch sequences.

Gonggi

Five plastic stones, five rounds, one uplifted hand.

Diketo

South African toss-and-catch with stones.

Raja Wazir Chor Sipahi

Four folded chits. Roles revealed. The thief denies it.

Name Place Animal Thing

A letter. A grid. The pen-and-paper classic.

Go

Black and white stones on a 19-by-19 wooden grid.

Xiangqi

Chinese chess across a river. Cannons jump to capture.

Galah Panjang

Cross the grid. Defenders patrol each lane.

Karuta

Hundred-poem cards. The reader chants. The hand snatches.

Fukuwarai

Blindfold pin-the-features-on-the-face — New Year's parlor game.

Vish Amrit

Tag with poison-and-cure tags. The ressurector saves you.