Khmer traditional games

Khmer traditional games are the folk games, races and contests that Cambodians play through the year, above all at Khmer New Year. In 1964 the Buddhist Institute's Khmer popular games described 22 of them, played by children, young people and elders in free time, on moonlit nights and at festivals.

Illustration inspired by a pagoda yard in rural Cambodia, where the village racing boat is kept.

Tradition details
Also known as	Khmer folk games; Khmer popular games
Usual occasion	Through the year, above all Khmer New Year

In the Explorer

Khmer traditional games connects to 9 pages

Cambodian New Year, Pchum Ben, Boat racing at Bon Om Touk, Bon Om Touk, Leak Kanseng and 4 more.

See the connections

Explore the 9 connected pages

On this page

1. Through the year
2. Games with their own pages
3. New Year games
4. Games through the year
5. Races and contests
6. Other games in the 1964 book
7. References

On this page

1. Through the year
2. Games with their own pages
3. New Year games
4. Games through the year
5. Races and contests
6. Other games in the 1964 book
7. References

Through the year

The 1964 book places the games in free time and at festivals and ceremonies, above all at New Year, in the months of Chet and Pisakh around April. In some villages people once played from the beginning of March until the New Year, and the games now tend to be played by day at organized events. For New Year 2026 the national events committee urged the public to play chol chhoung, leak kanseng, teanh prot and bos angkunh, and banned gambling.

Other games follow the farming and Buddhist calendar. Ox-cart races in Kampong Speu mark the end of the rice harvest before the New Year. Village boat races run from Pchum Ben to the end of Buddhist Lent and lead to the royal races of Bon Om Touk. The musical kite is flown in the windy cool season after the harvest.

Games with their own pages

• Teanh Prot (ល្បែងទាញព្រ័ត្រ): rope pulling, men against women, at New Year.
• Chol Chhoung (ចោលឈូង): throwing a knotted krama ball between two lines.
• Bos Angkunh (បោះអង្គញ់): throwing angkunh seeds to knock down the other side's seeds.
• Leak Kanseng (ល្បែងលាក់កន្សែង): hiding a knotted scarf behind a player in a ring.
• Khleng Ek (ខ្លែងឯក): the musical kite of the cool season.
• Boat racing at Bon Om Touk (ប្រណាំងទូក): pagoda boat races from Pchum Ben to the Water Festival.

New Year games

Chab kon khlaeng

In chab kon khlaeng (ល្បែងចាប់កូនខ្លែង), "the kite catches the chicks", a strong player is the hen and the others are her chicks in a line behind her. A player who is the khlaeng, a bird of prey, begs the hen for fire and for things she refuses, then tries to catch the last chick while the hen blocks. A chick that breaks away and drops to the ground cannot be taken. In 1964 it was a game for teenage boys and girls on moonlit New Year nights, said to teach alertness and the protection of oneself and one's family.

Veay k'aom

In veay k'aom (ល្បែងវាយក្អម), a player is blindfolded, turned around three times and given a stick to break a clay pot hung from a rope between two posts. Three misses lose, and breaking the pot wins. The pot holds scented powder, and the game is said to chase away bad things with the broken pot. It was on the program at tourist sites for New Year 2026.

Sdech jang

Sdech jang (ល្បែងស្ដេចចង់), "the king wishes", also called the iev game, is the first game in the 1964 book. One player sits as king between a boys' side and a girls' side. A girl whispers to the king the name of the boy she loves; if that boy comes forward, the king cries "iev, iev" and she rides on his back to the girls' side, and then the boys take their turn. Players may ask for a new king if the king is unfair. It was a moonlit-night game for teenagers in every village, said to train truthfulness and fairness. In 2025 a university student said she did not know how to play it.

Reav bong korng

In reav bong korng (ល្បែងរាវបង្កង), "groping for the prawn", two players are blindfolded with krama. One knocks a bamboo tube or a dry coconut shell and slips away without a sound, and the other gropes toward the sound. A catch makes the two swap roles. In 1964 it was played by young girls and teenagers, on moonlit nights or by day, to train the ear and quick hands and feet.

Kla klok

Kla klok (ខ្លាឃ្លោក), "tiger and gourds", is a dice game played for money on a board with pictures of a tiger, a gourd, a fish, a lobster, a crab and a chicken. A Khmer writer in New York describes it as a traditional New Year betting game, sometimes played at the pagoda. It is not among the games of the 1964 book. For New Year 2025 Phnom Penh banned all illegal gambling, and for New Year 2026 the national events committee banned gambling.

Games through the year

Sey

Sey (ល្បែងសី) is kicked to keep it in the air. The 1964 book names three kinds. One is a woven rattan ball kicked with the foot, and another a bigger, coarser ball played with the elbow, knee, shoulder and head. The third is the feathered shuttlecock sey paen, which may not be touched with the instep or the palm. It was played by men in the cool of the day, or at festivals in pagoda grounds. In 2025 the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts was funding materials for games such as sey and angkunh, so that elders could lead young people at New Year.

Bay khom

Bay khom (ល្បែងបាយខុំ) is a count-and-capture game played on ten holes in two rows, dug in the ground or cut in a plank, with small seeds or shells as counters. Players sow the counters from hole to hole and capture them. The 1964 book says villagers in every region played it in free time, and that it trains counting, memory and planning ahead.

Ouk chaktrong

Khmer chess (អុកចត្រង្គ) has three names: ouk, from the call a player makes when attacking the king, chhoeu trong, and chaktrong, from the Sanskrit and Pali chaturanga, the four parts of an army. It is played with 32 pieces of horn, ivory or wood on a board of 64 squares. The 1964 book warns that the game can lead players to neglect food, work and sleep, and says it teaches strategy.

Races and contests

Boak cham bab

Boak cham bab (បោកចំបាប់) is Khmer folk wrestling, and the only Khmer fighting form that includes dance. Drums set the pace, one beat for grappling and another for dancing, and a wrestler wins by putting the opponent on his back in two of three rounds. Bouts were traditionally held after the harvest and around New Year and Pchum Ben, and women also wrestled. A wrestling federation report for 2013 to 2016 found only clubs in Pursat and Kampong Chhnang teaching the traditional form.

Ox-cart racing

In Snor 1 village in Kampong Speu province, villagers race ox-carts (ប្រណាំងរទេះសាឡីគោលឿន) each year before the New Year, at the end of the rice harvest. The 2026 race, on April 5, drew 80 pairs of oxen. The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts says ox-carts once carried dowries and elders to weddings and festivals. In 2024 the provincial culture director warned that factories and homes were taking over the fields used for racing.

Vihear Suor races

At Vihear Suor pagoda in Kandal province, villagers race water buffalo (ប្រណាំងក្របី) and horses at the end of Pchum Ben, with bouts of wrestling and stick fighting between the races. Members of the racing committee date the buffalo races to the 1920s.

Other games in the 1964 book

• Lout antaek (ល្បែងលោតអន្ទាក់), "jump the trap": a team jumps in and out of a ring of seated players, who try to touch their feet.
• Orb tro lach (ល្បែងឱបត្រឡាច) or bes ov loeuk, "pick the melon": a buyer pulls "melons" one by one from a chain hugging a post.
• Pror jul moan (ល្បែងប្រជល់មាន់), a mock cockfight between a boy and a girl, each with an owner, said to teach children courage.
• Krorb moan (ល្បែងគ្របមាន់), "covered chicken": the other side guesses who is hidden under a sarong from the disguised crowing.
• Bet paun (ល្បែងបិទពួន), hide and seek, on moonlit nights.
• Kuos po phleak (ល្បែងគោះពព្លាក់) or teah po phleak: knocking the body or clapping hands with a partner, faster and faster, at festivals and weddings.
• Kuos tro loak (ល្បែងគោះត្រឡោក): knocking two coconut shells in seven positions, mostly at engagements and weddings.
• Kon koul (ល្បែងកូនគោល): driving a wooden ball with hooked sticks across a harvested field or open ground; at night the ball may be burned so that it glows.
• Jos pror mat (ល្បែងចោះប្រមាត់): a boat chase between a men's boat and a women's boat, played in Lent in two lake villages of Siem Reap province.
• Leak kon kas (ល្បែងលាក់កូនកាស): racing to grab a floating stick pushed under the water.
• Leak kh'chung (ល្បែងលាក់ធ្យូង): guessing whose hands hide a piece of charcoal.
• Pork jarb (ល្បែងប៉ក់ចាប): tossing pebbles from palm to back of the hand, often played by young herders while the cattle graze.

References 34