15 Forgotten 90s Indian Childhood Games (and Where to Play Them Now)

If any of these bring back a memory, share this with the friend you used to play them with.

Before smartphones, an Indian childhood ran on gully cricket, chalk on the floor and whatever you could invent with your friends. Here are 15 games every 90s kid remembers — how many did you play?

1. Chidiya Udd

Fingers on the table, someone calling out "chidiya udd, tota udd, table udd!" faster and faster to catch you out. Pure reflex chaos. Here are the full rules — and you can play it online free.

2. Posham Pa Bhai Posham Pa

Two kids form an arch with their arms, everyone files through singing the rhyme, and whoever gets trapped when the arch drops is out.

3. Gilli Danda

India's original street sport: flick the small gilli into the air with the danda and send it flying. No equipment budget required.

4. Kho Kho

The running-and-tagging game that had a whole team crouched in a line, waiting for the electric shout of "Kho!"

5. Pitthu / Lagori (Seven Stones)

Stack seven flat stones, knock them down with a ball, then rebuild the pile before the other team hits you with it.

6. Vish Amrit (Poison–Nectar)

A tag game where a touch of "vish" froze you until a teammate revived you with "amrit".

7. Chhupan Chhupai (Hide and Seek)

The universal classic — with distinctly Indian hiding spots behind water tanks, staircases and parked scooters.

8. Langdi Taang

Hop on one leg and tag the others before you lose your balance. Simple, brutal, hilarious.

9. Stapoo / Kith Kith (Hopscotch)

Chalk squares, a flat stone, and a lot of one-legged hopping across the floor.

10. Chain Chain (Zip Zap Chain)

A tag game where every kid you caught joined hands and became part of a growing human chain.

11. Kanche (Marbles)

Pocketfuls of glass marbles, a thumb-flick aim, and very real playground stakes.

12. Chor Police / Chor Sipahi

Folded paper chits decided who was the thief, the cop, the king and the minister — and who had to catch whom.

13. Antakshari

The road-trip legend: sing a song, and the next team starts one with the last letter you ended on.

14. Chidiya Ud... wait, that was #1

Still your favourite? You're not alone — it's the one game on this list you can still pull up and play in ten seconds.

15. Book Cricket

Flip a textbook, read the last digit of the page, and score runs — the game that got every bored student through a long class.

More reading: all Chidya Ud blog posts.