Gonggi

Gonggi (Korean: 공기) is a Korean playground game that is traditionally played using five or more small grape-sized pebbles or plastic stones. It can be played alone or with friends. The stones are called gonggitdol (Korean: 공깃돌, lit. 'gonggi stones'). The game has five levels of increasing difficulty, testing hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and timing.
Similar games are found in other countries. The game was historically played by Persians, who called it "Yek Ghol Do Ghol" (Persian: یک قل دو قل). This traditional game has been a popular pastime among children in Iran, often played outdoors or on flat surfaces. It is also a popular game in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, where it is known as "Halma-qo".
The game is also known by many other names, including Jjagebatgi in North Gyeongsang Province, Salgu in South Gyeongsang Province, Trupan in Kashmir and Datjjakgeoli in South Jeolla Province. In English, it is also known as Korean Jacks or Five Stones. More names can be found in 편 2003, pp. 170–171.
While gonggi's origins are uncertain, references to the game can be found in the artwork of painter Yoon Deok-hee (1685–1776; 윤덕희) and 19th century text Oju yeonmun jangjeon sango (오주연문장전산고; 五洲衍文長箋散稿). While children used small pebbles or any object of similar size in the past, nowadays the game is typically played with factory-produced plastic stones. Modern gonggi stones contain metal beads that could be taken out to adjust its weight.
In modern times, gonggi has undergone changes, including the invention of the 'crisis' gamemode (see below) and addition of more fine-grained rules.
The game appeared in the fourth episode of the second season of the dystopian Netflix series Squid Game as one of the mini-games making up the "Six-Legged Pentathlon" round, popularizing gonggi in other countries.
There is no single definitive version of gonggi; they have different levels and rules, depending on the region and the individual. Before starting the game, the players choose the number of points or "years" (년) one needs to gain to win. The game generally begins with each player tossing the stones from the palm of their hand into the air. While airborne, the player flips their hand. to catch the gonggi stone on the back of the hand. The person with the leading amount plays first. The number of stones is typically five. Before starting
In the most common ruleset, there are five levels (단). The player who goes through every level without failing wins or gain a point.
While the stones are airborne, the player switches their hand backside up, catches several stones, switches their hand backside down, and catches the stones that are left over.
While the stones are airborne, the player claps their hand before catching the stones.
Both "dragon" and "clap-toss" gives the player twice the score; twice the number of stones.
Once a player has mastered all five levels, they can challenge themselves to do them as fast as possible, a style called "speed gonggi" (스피드공기). World Speed Gonggi Association (세계스피드공기협회), founded by 박대현 with other schoolteachers, hosted their first speed gonggi competition in 2023, which was exclusively for students. In the 2024 competition, the eligibility was extended to the general public, with 58-year-old 임광택 playing the winning 6.57 seconds.
A game of gonggi could be extended by incorporating stages (단계). Once a player has completed all the levels, they move onto the next stage, often with different rulesets, some of which are listed at § Variants. For example, a game recorded in Jeolla Province had seven stages, switching between different gonggi variants: 한짝거리 → 두짝거리 → 세짝거리 → 모태 → 꼬치장 → 까불이 → 곱.
Invented by the younger generations, in this variant, when a player reaches a certain score, the player has to go through a "crisis" (고비). In Korea, the crisis scores are usually the multiples of 5 (5, 10, 15, ...) or numbers that include 3, 6, or 9 (3, 6, 9, 13, 16, 19, 23, 26, 29, 30, ….). When a player reaches a crisis score, the rules change:
Since other players don't want the player to earn more points, they choose the stone that is the hardest for the player to carry on. For example, in the first level, if two stones touch each other, other players make sure not to choose either one of the two stones. As a result, the player has to go through a crisis of needing to grab each stone without touching the other stone.
Other players try to throw the stone with accuracy and strength in order to make the other 4 stones scatter. The more they scatter, the harder it is for the player to grab at 4 stones at once.
This game is usually introduced to children before they learn how to play gonggi. The only difference between snail and gonggi is how to grab the stone. In snail, the edge of the player's hand has to be stuck on the ground at every step. Instead of throwing a stone up in the air, the player sweeps their hand across the ground in a large circle and grabs a certain number of stones. The number of stones the player has to grab at once is same as gonggi. Snail is an easy way to make oneself familiar with the number of stones one has to catch at each level. Game play known as level 1&2
This game is named after the Baekdu Mountain because of its towering height of 2,744m. The fundamental rule of this variant is that the player must throw each stone higher than their head level. Apart from this change, the rules and gameplay remain the same as the base game, with the number of stones the player must throw and grab being the same. The 5th stage is also the same as the base game. In some aspects, this variant is easier than regular gonggi.
This variant's name comes from the way the stones are caught, resembling the movement of a Maneki Neko's paw. The key technique of this game is for the player to catch the thrown stones overhand, with their palm facing downward. Because of this, it is more challenging than basic gonggi.
This game is taught to people who are adept in playing gonggi. The difference from gonggi is that the player doesn't throw one stone in the air but all stones that are in the player's hand. After throwing multiple stones, the player grabs other stone(s) from the ground and catches all the stones they threw. Like snail, the number of stones the player has to grab is same as gonggi.
There are many playing calls in the gonggi game. The standard calls have been listed here. The penalty for a "mess–up" requires that the player who has perpetrated it pass the stones to the next player.
Similar games can be seen all around the globe.
The game is played in India, especially in, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south of the country, under the name gutte or kallu, 'stones' , in the north of the country it is played in Kashmir under the name of trup, and in central Madhya Pradesh under the name chapeta . In Italy, the game is known as Gioco delle cinque pietre, created from Romans and Greeks, is actually played in South Italy, in Calabria and Sicily. In Nepal, the game is known as gatti. In Turkey, the game is known as 5 taş, '5 stones'. In Ethiopia, it is known as "qelemosh" (Amharic: ቅልሞሽ) in Amharic or "qulba" (Tigrinya: ቁልባ) in Tigrinya. In Eritrea, it is known as "ḥanday" (Tigrinya: ሓንዳይ). In Poland, a similar game was played under the name "Hacele" (or "Koble" in Silesia). In Afghanistan this game is popular among the Hazara children and is called "shighay". It is played by using lamb's leg joint bones. In South Africa, particularly in Cape Town amongst the Coloured community, kids have grown up playing a similar game with pebbles called '5 stones', or 'vyf (5) klippies' as it is known in Afrikaans. In Greece the game was popular until approximately the late 1970s, under the name pentovola (Greek πεντόβολα).