D&D Game: Human Bingo (Detailed Guide)
Human Bingo is a fantastic game for Dinner & Dance, company dinners and team bondings! Here’s why:
Amazing ice breaker: Instead of sitting at your table engaging in awkward small talk, it gets everyone talking to each other naturally
Sparks conversation: It allows staff to get to know one another better in a easy going and fun way
Inclusive: Great for all ages and genders, and while competitive types who go all-out to win stand a higher chance of winning, the casual player still has a chance of coming out on top
Logistics light: You don’t need much to run it: just a stack of bingo cards, some pens, and a little bit of planning to make it interesting.
It gets everyone moving around (great to get the everyone’s energy levels up)
Here’s how you play it!
How to Play (Simple Steps)
Preparation
-You will need 1 Human Bingo card, and 1 pen for each guest,
-Design a bingo card with a 5x5 grid based on characteristics that your guests might have. You can generate/ customize your own one here.
-Print the exact same design of the Bingo card.
(Refer to the “Designing your Bingo card” section below for tips on what to put in each square)
Step 1: Explain the rules.
First: Write your own name on the top of the card so we know who is the owner of the card.
The goal is simple: Fill in TWO rows of five squares with your colleagues name to win. Rows can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (I prefer 2-2 rows, instead of 1 because it makes them get to know more colleagues, and it’s still flexible enough for players to be strategic to win.)
You fill in the squares by looking for people who match the descriptions in the squares, and then write their names in the respective squares e.g. If the square says “someone with a pet dog” and you find out that your colleague Alex has a pet dog, you write “Alex” in the square.
Note:
-No repeat names: One name can only fill one square on your card.
-You can’t fill in squares with your own name.
Step 2: Distribute cards
Give out the Bingo cards and pens to each contestant. If they are seated in groups/ tables, an easy way is for each group/ table to get a representative to come forward and collect for the whole table/ group.
*It is important to NOT distribute the cards before explaining the rules, because once the guests have the cards, they tend to get excited and start going around, instead of listening to the game rules.
Step 3: Start the game!
Participants will go around asking each other questions to fill in their squares.
Step 4: Call out when you’ve got Bingo!
The first five participants to complete a row and shout “Bingo!” should come up to the front and pass their card to the emcee for verification.
Stop the game once 5 people have come up front, with 2 rows filled up.
Step 5: Verification time.
Here’s the fun part. The emcee will pick some of the more interesting squares from the winning cards and invite the person whose name is written in them to verify/ perform the task. e.g. if “Bob” is written in the square for “Can sing”, invite Bob up to sing a short tune.
Give Bob a prize as well if you have enough prizes.
This twist gets everyone cheering and laughing to end the game on a great note!
Designing the card
You can design your card at https://myfreebingocards.com/human-bingo/human-bingo/edit
I check “don’t randomize” so everyone has the exact same card. This makes the game more fair, and makes verification (much) easier.
When designing your Human Bingo card, it’s helpful to have squares from different categories, and have a mix of easy, medium, and hard squares. Here are some suggested categories with examples:
1. Interests & Traits
Easy: Has visited 3 continents, Took public transport today
Medium: Likes spicy food, Has a pet dog/ cat, Plays football, Plays a musical instrument
Hard: Has appeared on TV, Has 300+ followers on Linkedin, Married more than 30 years
2. Work Related
Easy: Has been with the company for 3+ years
Medium: Has trained a new team member,
Hard: Has received Outstanding Performance award
3. Performance
Easy: Can whistle a tune, Can do 20 pushups
Medium: Can speak 4 languages, Can name 6 MRT stations in order, Can name 5 words starting with H and ending with R
Hard: Can sing, Can dance, Can keep a tissue afloat for 5 seconds by blowing
Pro Tips for Designing Your Card
Top-left 2 squares should be easy to get the momentum going
Corner squares are almost always filled up for winners. Make them fun squares! I usually fill them with performance challenges (e.g. can dance), so that we almost always get a singing or dance performance. It’s entertaining and lets your guests shine!
Include at least 4 Perform or Game squares for on-stage entertainment during the verification phase
Avoid overly personal or exclusive questions (e.g., income, religion)
Need more ideas for planning, or an Emcee to host your event?
Enquire to find out how I can help you with event consultation and/ or emceeing
