Bingo
A.k.a.: “How to add some unnecessary spice to any meal or event”.
Brief Introduction: Neatening Game Operations
Bingo is one of the most straightforward tabletop games ever. The host randomly draws numbers from 1 to 100, player mark these numbers on their cards, and the first player to mark off all the numbers in a row, column or diagonal in their card wins the round.
Simple enough, but not very exciting. Like a round of rock paper scissors, a game of Bingo relies entirely on pure chance and randomness, giving players a passive role that leaves no room for strategy whatsoever.
This begs the question: How would you make a game of Bingo more engaging? Sure, you can raise the stakes by introducing prizes and punishments — but a luck-based game in which each player may either win or lose something valuable? That’s bordering on gambling, which doesn’t sound particularly great.
Buzzwords Induce New Gameplay Options
One popular approach is called Buzzword Bingo. While many variants exist, the basic idea revolves around creating a custom Bingo card using your friends’ catchphrases, habits and unique idiosyncrasies. During a meal, meeting or event, players will mark these off as they are fulfilled one by one. As with traditional Bingo, the first player to complete a row, column or diagonal wins.
If this sounds familiar, it probably is — the concept of amusing or annoying friends by keeping track of their predictable actions on a Bingo card isn’t exactly new. You might remember it being explored in an iconic Brooklyn Nine-Nine cold open, or being exhibited in three mind-boggling dimensions in a brilliant episode of Game Changer. The phrase “on one’s bingo card” has even entered common parlance.
Browser-based Interactive Novelty Goes Online
To celebrate the art of strengthening friendships to the point where you can use friends as literal pawns in a game that you made up for your own enjoyment*, I’ve created an online knick-knack for playing Buzzword Bingo on your phone, tablet or laptop anywhere anytime, which you can access by clicking on this link or the logo below.
*That was a joke. Please exploit your friendships responsibly.
Each of the 25 cells can be marked by clicking or tapping on them, and their cells can be edited or randomly shuffled. The board comes complete with How to Play instructions, along with buttons that let you either share the site with others, or show off your personalised Bingo board via a custom link.
And just for fun, I implemented this website as a progressive web app (PWA), which means that not only is it viewable as a website, but it can also be installed as an app on your device. App installation instructions, as detailed on the webpage, vary from device to device and from browser to browser, but in general:
- On desktop, the app can be installed on Chrome, Edge or Opera.
- On Android mobile devices, the app can be installed on Chrome or Opera.
- On iOS, the app can be installed by tapping Share and selecting Add to Home Screen.
While the app works perfectly well on its own, I personally prefer the website version over the app since, as of time of writing, in-app sharing features are not currently supported. I might consider adding this feature if I ever revisit this project in the future though!
The code for the website is accessible on GitHub.
And now: Your very own Bingo board
Congrats on reaching the end of the post! As a reward, I've prepared a special Bingo board just for you...