February 22, 2013 | 1:04 pm

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

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Did you know Israelis also invented some really cool games? There are countless Israel-invented games, but only three of them are cool enough to me mentioned and recommended. Enjoy!

Taki

This is my favorite Israeli game, and favorite card game in general. It is a very common game here, and I believe almost every family in Israel owns at least one pack of Taki. It is a recommended game for a quality family time, and also during a friends' hangout. It has some similarities to other card games, but also very unique rules. The best thing about Taki is that you can play it for hours and without getting bored. There is a shop in your neighborhood with this game in store- I highly recommend you to purchase and enjoy. Check the rules here.

Rummikub

A tile-based game for two to four players. The goal, to be the first player to place all the tiles from your rack onto the table, sounds very simple. However this is actually quite a challenging game, which gets more and more of an intellectual challenge the better you and your opponent get. I  tried to summarize the rules for you, but it would be much easier if you go here.

Matkot

At the beach and looking for an exercise better than tanning? Matkot is a popular paddle ball game, which is considered Israel's national sport. It is similar to beach tennis, but much simpler. It is a non-competitive game, meant for two players, where your only goal is to keep the small rubber ball in the air as long as you can. How you do that? Simply pass the ball to each other with your wooden racket. It may sound like an easy game, but you'll be surprised to see how hard it is to keep the ball in the air more than two minutes straight.