Bingo Card Generator

How to use it

1. Enter your words. One square per line: single words, short phrases, names, numbers, or anything players can recognize when it is called. Blank lines and duplicates are dropped automatically. Need ideas? Describe the occasion and who is playing in the "Describe your theme" box, for example "ocean animals for a kindergarten class", and press Get ideas: use the suggestions as your list or add them to your own words. You can also start from a themed list, or read more on the AI bingo card generator page. For traditional number bingo, choose "Use numbers 1–75 instead" and the columns fill from the classic B, I, N, G and O ranges.
2. Pick a grid. 5 x 5 is the classic card with 24 squares plus a free centre. 4 x 4 is quicker and has no centre square. 3 x 3 suits preschoolers and five-minute rounds. You can turn the free square off or give it your own label.
3. Set the number of cards. One per player, plus a couple of spares. The generator makes up to 200 and tells you if your list is too short to keep every card's set of words different.
4. Check the preview. The cards are rebuilt every time you change something. If you would like a different draw of the same list, press Shuffle; every draw is reproducible from the share link.
5. Download and print. Give the game a title for the top of each card, choose Letter or A4 and 1, 2 or 4 cards per page, tick "Include a caller sheet", and download the PDF (or use Print for your browser's own print dialog). Card numbers are printed on each card so you can hand them out and check winners later.

How the cards are made

Every card is different. The generator deals each card from a shuffled copy of your list, refilling it when it runs out, so across a set every word is used about equally often and no word is left off a class set. Each new card is compared with the ones already made: a repeated arrangement is reshuffled and a repeated set of words is repaired by swapping a word, so you can never hand two players the same card. The shuffling uses a seeded random number generator, which is why the share link rebuilds the same cards.

Different sets, not just different orders. Two cards can hold the same 24 words in a different layout. That is fine for line games, but in a full-card ("blackout") game those two cards would win on exactly the same call. Whenever your list is long enough the generator also guarantees that no two cards share the same set of words. How long is long enough is a matter of arithmetic: with a 5 x 5 card and a free centre, 24 words give exactly one possible set, 25 words give 25, 26 words give 325 and 30 words give 593,775. The unique cards guide explains the math and has a table for every list size up to 60.

The free space. On 5 x 5 and 3 x 3 cards the centre square can be a free space, which players mark before the first call. It makes lines through the middle one call shorter and gives beginners a head start. 4 x 4 cards have no centre square, so there is no free space; every line needs four calls.

The caller sheet. Every word in your list goes onto the caller sheet in a shuffled order with a tick box. Because cards are dealt from the list evenly, a class-sized game puts every word on several cards; in a very small game from a long list a few calls will be on nobody's card, which is how number bingo works too. The order is fixed by the same seed as the cards, which means the on-screen caller and the printed sheet always agree.

How many words you need. Enough for the grid, plus enough spare that cards differ and the game lasts: at least 48 for a 5 x 5 game (twice what a card holds) and ideally 50 to 75. With exactly 24 words every 5 x 5 card holds the same words, so a blackout game ends for everyone at once; with 75 words (the number in classic number bingo) a line typically takes 15 to 25 calls in a class-sized game and a full card more than 60.

Running the game

• Agree the winning pattern before you start. One line (any row, column or diagonal) is the standard game and takes three to seven minutes, depending on the pace. Four corners and the small "postage stamp" square are quick; a full card is long. The hosting guide shows the common patterns as pictures.
• Call at a steady pace. About one call every ten to fifteen seconds for adults, slower for children and language learners, and repeat each call once. Tick the caller sheet as you go.
• Check the winner. Ask for the card number and read the marked squares back against the ticked calls. If it holds up, decide whether to stop or play on for a second pattern; cards can be reused for a full-card round by continuing from the same call list.
• Give out markers. Dry beans, buttons, torn paper, bingo daubers or a pencil all work. For a class set that will be reused, slip the cards into page protectors and use dry-erase markers.
• Keep prizes small and plentiful. Stickers, a bookmark, a choice of song, first in the lunch line, a small bag of sweets. Several short games with small prizes beat one long game with a big one, especially with children.