Bingo Variations

The game of Bingo does not offer a wide range of variants, however, the rules used in Bingo may be used for playing some other games, where instead of numbers you may use anything you wish, starting from Christmas presents and frequently repeated words to figures of your favorite manga. Below we present some of the variants of how to use the bingo rules in games that are based on bingo, that use instead of numbers some interesting symbols. If you wish, you can create your own game and then send us as an example of a new method of how to use the Bingo rules.

Christmas Bingo Variation

This Bingo Variation game is good for Christmas Parties with lots of presents available. At first, all the presents are covered with brown paper not to guess who brought which present. After that, all the players receive 5x5 cards and fill in the numbers from 1 to 40 in each box. The caller draws numbers from a hat, and the player that has the called number picks a present from a circle in the middle. After all the presents have been taken out, the game continues by taking the presents with each called number from those who took it first. When all the numbers have been called the game stops and players keep the presents they ended the game with.

Buzzword Bingo Variation

This bingo-style game involves writing buzzwords on the cards instead of numbers and crossing them out after they have been said at a conference, a meeting or a speech. This Bingo Variation game is often used at business meetings, where the leader will definitely say certain business words, which is perfect for this game. The moment of truth in this game is to have the courage to yell “Bingo!” In order all the consequences of yelling out “Bingo!” at the important meeting, the players often agree to mouth the word “Bingo” so that other “players” could read your lips. The fact that the speech caused someone to win the “Buzzword Bingo” means that the speaker is not capable of anything more than pronouncing the bunch of buzzwords.

One of the most famous examples of a Buzzword Bingo Variation was during Al Gore’s, then the Vice President of the United States, speech at the MIT's 1996 graduation, when the hackers, that were obviously not fond of his manner of using buzzwords too much, had distributed the Bingo cards among the class so that they raised up their cards when they had a line of five words.

The idea of the Buzzword Bingo is popularized by the comic strip year 1994 by Dilbert.

Bovine Bingo Variation

Bovine Bingo Variation is an alternative variant of a Bingo game made out for the rural areas to have fun at fairs and fests. Actually it is considered not as a Bingo, but as another form of a lottery. The organizers mark a special grid on a farm field or on a paddock, number the boxes and people place the bets according to the number of the box. After that, a cow or another farm animal is released on the marked grid. The place where first "cowflop" (defecation) drops determines the winner that has bet for that specific box number. Same rules may be used during horse parades.

Some people are against this game not only because for the esthetic reasons, but also because of the stress that the animal that takes part is exposed to.

The game can be also named as "Cow Pat Lottery", "Cow Chip Bingo", "Fertilizer Lottery","Cowpie Bingo", "Cow Patty Bingo", or "Bossy Bingo."