Komunitas Bermain turned a spontaneous TikTok clip into Jakarta's most unlikely weekly ritual  grown-ups playing the games they grew up with, for free, under the GBK floodlights. 

At a glance

• 1,800+ members across Jabodetabek
• Every Friday, 7:00–10:00 PM at Plaza Timur, GBK Senayan
• Rp 0  entry is free, bring your own water bottle
• Started August 2024 from one viral rubber-band jump-rope video

It's a Friday night in Senayan, and instead of queuing for a table at a mall restaurant, a few hundred people are jumping over a rope made of braided rubber bands in a parking lot. Nobody's getting paid. Nobody's filming a brand deal. They're just playing lompat karet  the game most of them last touched in elementary school.

This is Komunitas Bermain GBK, a free, open-to-anyone community that meets weekly at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Central Jakarta to play traditional Indonesian children's games. It was started by a young Jakartan known as Kiko, who filmed himself playing rubber-band jump rope near GBK's Gate A. The clip went viral on TikTok in August 2024, strangers started showing up to watch, then to join, and what began as one person's nostalgia trip turned into a standing Friday-night gathering that now draws crowds in the hundreds.

 

 

 

 

 

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What Is Komunitas Bermain GBK?

Komunitas Bermain is a Jakarta-based community that revives traditional street games  lompat karet (rubber-band jump rope), bentengan (a fort-capturing team game), gobak sodor, ular naga, petak jongkok, and more  in public spaces. Anyone can join. Sessions run every Friday from 7 to 10 PM at Plaza Timur GBK, plus a Sunday morning slot during Car Free Day. The only requirements are a water bottle and clothes you don't mind sweating in.

How Did a Rubber-Band Jump Rope Video Go Viral?

Co-founder Daffa Iqbal has said the whole thing wasn't planned. Kiko simply wanted to relive a childhood game, so he played it in public. Passersby stopped, watched, then asked if they could join in. That loop  strangers wandering over and getting pulled into a game of ular naga  repeated itself week after week until the founders realized they'd accidentally built a community, not just hosted a viral moment.

What Games Do They Actually Play?

The lineup rotates by group consensus each week: lompat karet, bentengan, gobak sodor, ular naga, suit monopoli, congklak, bola bekel, engklek, and kotak pos, among others. The sound of the sessions is distinct  sandals slapping on pavement, a rubber rope snapping taut, and bursts of laughter every time someone trips at "karet" height that's been raised one more notch.

How Much Does It Cost to Join Komunitas Bermain GBK?

Nothing. It's free and open to anyone who shows up  no registration, no membership fee, no gear to buy. That accessibility is central to the pitch: this is a night out that costs less than a single iced coffee.

Why Are Jakarta's Young Professionals Choosing This Over Nightlife?

That's reportedly the community's unofficial motto "Come on, just join in." It captures why office workers, students, and solo newcomers to the city keep coming back: no small talk required, no clique to break into. You just step into the rope line.

The counterintuitive part: this "childhood" activity has drawn enough of a crowd that GBK's own management got involved in 2024 over usage arrangements for the space  a reminder that what started as a few friends messing around now functionally operates like a mid-sized recurring public event, all without charging a rupiah.

For a generation raised on group chats and 15-second videos, the appeal isn't the games themselves. It's three unscheduled hours a week where showing up in person is the entire point.