Playing Patintero – A Game of Hand and Eye Coordination and Fast Thinking 0 9008

They said playing patintero is for people with long fingers. It must be true because longer fingers can help you block your opponent from passing. After all, patintero is a game of blocking your opponent and making sure that they won’t pass you. 

What is Patintero

Patintero is a native Filipino game played mostly on the street. It can be played on a paved and unpaved vacant lot. What you will need to play patintero?

1. A team of two with at least five players each (you can have more if you have wider space)
2. A wide vacant space
3. Chalk or stick to draw square marks on the ground
4. A timer

Rules

1. The players will choose through toss coin (or whatever means) the team that will be on defense and offense
2. The defense team must block any member of the offensive team from crossing the marks on the ground
3. The players can set a time for each team to make their move and cross the entire square marks on the ground
4. The team on the defense side must ensure that they are stepping on the marks or lines before tagging an opponent 
5. The team on the defense can tag anyone, even those who are not planning to cross the marks or lines
6. Every player that is tagged will be taken out of the game. Once the entire offensive team gets tagged, the roles are reversed
7. The team who crossed the most wins

Playing Patintero

In playing patintero, there is one goal – to cross the large rectangle without being tagged. This means using your agility to move around and planning to ensure that you can cross without being noticed by the defense team. This also involves teamwork.

1. The players will have to draw a big rectangle, divided into small rectangles
2. The defense team will stand on the lines, guarding each line to make sure that no one from the offensive team passes it
3. The defense team can spread their hands to tag anyone inside the square
4. A member of the defense team is assigned as the master and the master can run laterally, across the entire rectangle. The rest of the defense team will guard the line horizontally 
5. A time is set for the defense team to make their move and cross the massive rectangle. The time is usually 2 minutes but you can set it to five minutes

Note: If none of the team gets to cross the large rectangle, a point system is used. The first rectangle from the entry point gets one point, the second rectangle gets two points, and so on. The point system might vary from one town to another but the goal is always the same, for someone to cross the large rectangle without being tagged!