Top 10 Chinese New Year Games

Amidst the ongoing global pandemic, a new year has arrived again. School, college, and office are more or less about work from home now. As we all know that Chinese culture is enormously embedded in Malaysian traditions, we suggest you have some indoor fun with your close ones to celebrate this festive season without jeopardizing health!

As we all know, for the Chinese, the new year celebration is incomplete without some fun gambling, the ang pao, and some great indoor games with dear ones. Balancing the new normal aspects with age-old Chinese traditions, here we have compiled a list of new year games that you may find amusement in and get a new year vibe while being at home. Check this out!

1. Ang Pao

This one is a decade-old culture in Chinese celebrations. Giving and receiving cash! The fun transactions take place only among family members though. The money is wrapped inside a fancy, red envelope and they call it Ang Pao.

Even though it can be called a money game, Ang Pao is more like a tradition of taking blessings and good wishes from the elder members of the family! To add some color to the Ang Pao ritual, in an indoor setting, family members can play different card games and use cash as deposit money or winning amount!

For the Chinese and Malaysian Chinese, Ang Pao has been a not to be missed tradition for a long time! These days, certain smartphone applications and messaging apps have made Ang Pao easier and more fun.
Someone sends a ‘red envelop’ to family or friends group chat, you click on it and find a get a certain amount! Thus, it becomes a competition that would see and open it first and pull in the biggest share!

2. Cho Dai Dee

Another very popular game in East Asia is Cho Dai Dee, some call it Big Two! The game is simultaneously popular among people from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. You can play this as a gambling card game or simply as a means to kill time with your family and friends, celebrating the new year!

It requires at least 2 or at best 4 people. The ultimate purpose of playing the game is to steer clear of all of your cards by outrunning your rivals escorted by cards played one by one or in specific poker amalgams. You can take a combination of 2 cards, 3 cards, and 5 cards!

If you want to make it more fun, adding some real cash can be an option! Fix a specific amount for each card. Finally, the winner can gain the total cost of all the cards left in his opponents’ hands.
But you should make sure the gambling will take place in an indoor setting and not otherwise

3. Mah Jong

Mah Jong has earned huge popularity because of its strategic nature. Slightly resembling Rummy, it comprises a set of long cards with Chinese symbols and characters as well as 3/4 players to play. The sets usually include dice that decide the deal, counters that help with keeping the scores plus a marker for showing the round being played as well as the dealer.

In addition to the complex strategy, the game requires a decent understanding of these characters. So, you can call it a hard game to learn. However, even though it involves complex mathematic and strategic abilities, it has an entertaining factor too. Thus, it can help you have fun at home during this pandemic. Starting from a teenager to a senior citizen, you can see many Malaysian Chinese playing it effortlessly and fast.

The game is so popular among the Chinese that some families reserve a room for it in their house. During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this can be one of your most pleasant yet productive leisure activities; given that this game will necessarily create some storm in your head!

4. Chopsticks

Once you are done with your hearty meal along with other festivities, you feel a bit dizzy. But the food coma should not let you sleep if you really want to put some spirit into your family and friend’s reunion! Chopsticks is an ideal game for that.

You will need a pair of chopsticks; you can use spoons or forks as well. Minimum five people need to participate in the game—one has to start off the game by telling “In this room, the one who is most likely to…”.

Other participants will make assumptions and the one with maximum votes will have to put up with a poke on the head! Make sure you do not flick too hard!

5. Fortune telling indoor

Chinese customs and traditions always take interest in fortune-telling games. Even for the new year celebration, they indulge in many games that are played using cards but the purpose is not just fun but also to predict the near future.

What you need to do is just arbitrarily arrange the cards, in some ways the specific and random arrangement of cards is considered to be auspicious that will bring good luck to your life. And in some other ways, it is just the opposite!

6. Chinese poker

Even this one is a part and parcel of Chinese culture. In the modern era, this is played with common poker cards. This is probably a game that every Chinese knows playing. Even this one is a group game, often played in a minimum of three groups or more.

Chinese poker involves a lot of complicated rules and even playing techniques. The game is segregated into multiple rounds and each round has different methods that one may find hard to expertise in a short time.

The unspoken rule of the game is the gamers must be swift and loud and excited! An ideal new year game for you!

7. Online gambling

As the pandemic has hit us hard, casino hopping is next to impossible! Nor can you gather in big groups by maintaining social distance. Online gambling could be an ideal solution for the 2021 Chinese New Year celebration!

Some top online gambling sites have come up with outstanding offers this year. Their promotions will blow your mind. The free chips and spins with no deposit bonus will escalate your scopes to win, or at least not lose much!

EMPIRE777 casino and many online gambling websites have decided to add a new flavor to your new year, amidst the pandemic, without having to step outside!

8. Lantern Riddles

Malaysian Chinese have Lantern Festival that they celebrate on the 15th day of the 1st month of the lunisolar year. Not only do people light, fly, hold or float the bright-colored lanterns but play with them too. If you want, you can try it on the rooftop to avoid gathering during this COVID-19 pandemic.

The game basically involves riddles written on the lanterns for the people to solve them. They are displayed during the fest and individuals have to guess the answer from a phrase, poem, or word. That is what Lantern Riddle is.

However, there are 3 vital features in this game.

The formats are unique. The game comprises 3 parts: Riddles, Hints, and Answer.
A Chinese character possesses several meanings. So, it is essential that you think deeply about all those different meanings of the words given in the riddle. This way, you can get the answer easily.
Make sure to not repeat the answer. The game should not have repetitive characters between the riddles and the answer.

9. Chinese Rope Game

This game can entertain the kids mostly. Played in a group of 3, it involves an elastic rope of at least 6 feet long in which both the ends are tied to form a circle.

Two children will stand facing each other inside the circle and place the rope around their ankles. There will be a third player who will just jump. That is what the object of the game is. There can be a song or rhyme and after the player completes each level, they move the rope higher to make it more difficult.

10. Chess

Chess, being an all-time favorite game of the Malaysian Chinese, even during the New Year Celebration and throughout the year, Chinese Chess be can a perfect indoor fun game that also triggers some brainstorm, especially during these hard days of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Conclusion
You probably get bored every other day and hark back to the good old days when you used to go out to celebrate the Chinese New Year and meet relatives, friends. Since we are bound to adapt to the new normal life, we hope our attempt of informing you of these easy, fun indoor and online gambling games helps you to some extent! Have a great year ahead!