PIKO

'Piko' or buan-buan is the local equivalent of hopscotch,

a playground game involving a diagram divided into sections,

drawn on the ground with usually chalk or charcoal. Players

 hop from section to section. The game is for two to eight players.

The succession of turns is determined by aiming markers (usually a

flat stone or a fruit peeling) at the center of the diagram. The

player whose marker lands closest to the center will go first,

followed by the second-closest, then the third-closest, and so on.

The diagram varies. Usually, the more players there are,

the more complex the diagram and the sections are

numbered or labeled to indicate the correct order in which

the players are to hop. The first player starts by throwing

his marker at the initial section. He then hops onto the

section and kicks his marker to the next designated section.

The player continues this process until he gets to the final

section. Some games require the player to retrace his hops

back to the start or for players to hop across other players'

paths. At any time a player's marker touches a line, or

 when any part of his body touches a line, he surrenders

the turn to the next player. The first player to complete

the diagram wins.

Some games have another part after the first, apparently to extend

playing time. This part has the players looking towards the sky

then throwing his marker on the diagram. Without looking, he must

walk across the diagram to fetch his marker without touching

any lines. This stage is intentionally more difficult to give the other

 players a chance to catch up.

The game penalizes losers with the same choice of punishments

shared by many street games, such as putting powder, liptick, or

charcoal on the losers' faces, slapping the palms of the losers, or

 having the player who performed the worst look for his marker

after the others have hidden it.