Bingo caller

How to call a game with this page

Pick 1-75 for American cards with B-I-N-G-O columns, 1-90 for British tickets, or Words for cards made from a word list. Press Next (or the Space bar or Enter on a keyboard) and read out the call. The board marks every number or word already called, and the newest call is outlined, so when someone shouts you can check their card against the board on the screen. Laptops can be plugged into a TV or projector so the whole room sees the board.

Screen and paper in the same order

Every set of cards made on this site prints a set number under each card ("Card 3 of 20 · set 482913"). Type that number into Set number here and press New game, and the calls come out in exactly the order of that set's printed caller sheet: same first ball, same second ball, all the way down. That means you can call from the screen and keep the paper sheet as a backup, or swap between them mid-game. The Call this game on screen link under the card makers on the front page, 1-75, 1-90 and picture bingo pages opens this page with the set already filled in.

Leave the set number empty and the caller draws a random one and shows it at the top of the screen. To print cards that match, type that number as the Set number in the card maker before you press Generate. For word games the list must be the same too: Use my saved list loads the list (and the last set number) that the card maker saved in this browser. If you edited the list after printing, the order will not match the paper any more, because the order depends on both the words and the set number.

Picture bingo for children who cannot read yet

In Words mode, the two Picture sets buttons load the same lists as the picture bingo cards: Animals (34 drawings) and Around the house and food (72). Each call then shows its drawing large, on a white tile even in the dark theme, with the word underneath; the last five calls and the word list show small versions. Untick Show the word under the picture for a group that matches pictures only; the choice is remembered in this browser. Read calls aloud still says the word. A word you type yourself gets a picture too when it is one of those 106 (type cat and you get the cat), and any other word is called as text. For the screen to match the printed caller sheet, use the same set number and do not edit the list on either side. Check a card shows the rebuilt card with its pictures; picture cards are made at 3x3 without a free space unless you changed that, so the check starts there.

Undo, reloads and starting over

Undo last takes back the newest call, for when you pressed Next twice by accident. Because the order is fixed by the set number, the call you took back comes out again on the next press. The game is saved in this browser after every press, separately for 1-75, 1-90 and Words, so a reload, a dead battery or closing the tab carries on where you stopped. New game asks before it clears the calls.

Checking a claimed winner

When someone shouts, ask for the card number printed under their card and type it into Check a card. The page does not look at their paper: it deals card 7 again from the set number, exactly as the card maker did, marks every square called so far and answers for each pattern. On 1-75 and word cards that is any row, any column, either diagonal, four corners and full card, with the free centre counted as called, so a diagonal through the middle needs only 4 calls. On 1-90 tickets it is one line, two lines and full house, the UK rules. Each pattern that is not complete says how many squares it still needs. Read out a few squares from the screen and have the player confirm them on paper: if they do not match, the card came from a different list, set number, size or free-space setting, and the verdict is not about their card.

For word cards the size and free centre matter as much as the list: card 7 at 4x4 holds different words from card 7 at 5x5. If the list was loaded with Use my saved list, the check takes the size and free space saved with it; otherwise pick them. Cards printed before you edited the list, or numbers above 200, cannot be rebuilt.

How many calls to expect

We played 2,000 simulated 75-ball games with cards from this site (free centre, any row, column or diagonal wins). With 10 cards in play the first line came after a median of 26 calls; with 30 cards, after 21. At one call every 10 to 15 seconds that is about five minutes to the first winner. Ninety-ball games run longer: with 12 tickets the first line took a median of 42 calls and the full house 76 of the 90.

Cards on players' phones

Phone cards turns the current game into one link to paste into a group chat. Each phone that opens it draws a card number between 1 and the number you typed, and shows that card from this game's set number, exactly as the card maker would print it, with "Card 17 of 50 · set 482913" under it. Players tap squares to mark them. When one shouts, type their card number into Check a card as usual. The phone bingo page cannot see your calls, so the check here is what counts. Phones pick at random, so two can get the same card: with 10 phones, 50 cards repeat in about 6 games out of 10 and 200 cards in about 2. The whole game rides in the link, so it is capped at 1,800 characters; a long word list is refused with a request to shorten it.

Read aloud and keep screen on

Read calls aloud is off until you switch it on. It uses the speech voice built into your phone or computer, so it works offline and sounds different on every device; iPhones on silent may say nothing. Keep screen on asks the browser for a screen wake lock so the phone does not dim and lock between calls. Most current browsers support it; where one does not, the switch says so and you can raise the auto-lock time in your settings instead. Nothing you call is sent anywhere: the game runs in your browser.

This caller is for fun games at home, in classrooms, clubs and care homes. It does not take money or run prize draws.