It was my son’s birthday recently, and a well meaning family friend bought him a game called Zingo as a present.
She couldn’t have known what she was about to unleash, but my family has basically been at war ever since.
This game is brilliant. It’s exciting, it’s genuinely fun for everyone in the family, and it’s easy enough that young children can play it with no real disadvantage to adults. In other words, you don’t have to let them win.
This creates a scenario where everyone is equally capable of winning, and when that happens in a competitive family like mine, it’s chaos.
Why? Because to win a game of Zingo, you have to rely 50% on the luck of the draw, and 50% on being faster, louder, and snatchier than everyone else at the table. And boy do we all try hard to do that. 😝
How to Play Zingo
So Zingo is based on Bingo, but there are no bingo calls or anything like that. Instead of calling numbers, the game uses pictures, and instead of everyone marking off a picture from their card when it is drawn, you have to fight for it. Only one person can win each picture when it is drawn, and the way to do that, is to shout out and grab it before anyone else.
Let me explain.
Every game of Zingo starts with an empty card per player and a full Zinger. The Zinger is a container which holds all the yellow picture tiles, and it has a sliding mechanism which releases two tiles every time you pull it back.
These are the two tiles everyone is fighting for on that turn.
However, you only shout for the picture tiles if you have a matching picture on your card. So if you have a cat on your card and the cat tile slides out of the Zinger, you shout “CAAAATT!” and make a grab for it.
Technically you aren’t supposed to grab at it, but that takes superhuman levels of self control that no-one in my family seems to possess. Nevertheless, the official rules state that the first person to shout out the name of the picture is the winner of that tile.
All the cards are different, but they all share at least a couple of the same pictures, so you will always be competing against the other players at some point.
Once you have completed your card, you have to shout “ZINGO!”, and you are the winner of that round.
Super simple. Except containing my family while playing is impossible, so tiles go flying, cards get turned over, and arguments erupt over who yelled “FOOT!” first 😂🤪🙈
My Family Has An Extra Rule
When we play, we have an additional rule. It was introduced in an attempt to stop the madness each time the Zinger slides back.
There are 9 pictures on each card, so at the beginning of a game, it’s difficult to quickly work out whether you need the tiles that show up. You have to check your card first, which takes time.
My fella, who is a time served cheater, immediately worked out that if he just called out what he saw regardless, he would win the tile more often than not. If he didn’t actually need it, he could just say “whoops”, and give it to the next person.
So, our rule is that anyone who makes a false call s not allowed to take part in the next go. That meant you might end up missing out on a tile you definitely did need, and it gave everyone pause for thought.
We also take it in turns to be the Zinger operator. My fella calls it the ‘banker’ because he’s an idiot, this isn’t Monopoly. I just mean we take it in turns to slide the Zinger so no one can be accused of cheating or favouritism. So after every go the Zinger moves to the next person.
We tried to implement a no grabbing rule on several occasions, but it was hugely unsuccessful.
Family Bonding Time
Apparently, playing board games as a family is supposed to be a bonding experience. Maybe it is if you are playing Snakes and Ladders, but Zingo? I’m not so sure!
I’m only joking. It’s a great game, we love playing it together, and the arguments are *always had in fun. It’s genuinely rare to find a game that the parents aren’t pretending to enjoy too, or that the kids don’t need lots of help with.
Zingo is good for young children as well because the game strengthens abilities like pattern recognition, cognitive associations, and concentration. And snatching 🤭
Even if it causes chaos, every house needs a healthy does of that, right? Thirty minutes of shrieking and laughing together is what family bonding time should be all about. Plus, it’s one of the few games my kids will happily turn off Disney+ for a while to play. It was a brilliant gift and I would recommend it to everyone.
So thank you, family friend who made me promise not to name her. You know who you are.
And now you know what you’ve done.
*Usually. Alright, sometimes.