People Bingo, free and nothing to download
People Bingo, also known as human bingo, is one of the most popular icebreakers for events, the first day of class and new teams: everyone has a card with squares like “find someone who plays an instrument” or “who was born in another state” and chats with the others until they find someone for each one. Before they know it, everybody has introduced themselves to several people. Here everyone opens the game on their own phone and gets a different card, marks the squares with the name of the person they found, and the game lets them know when they complete a line. With a room, perfect for meetings over a video call, the cards are dealt all at once, you mark a square by picking the person from the list and everyone sees who wins. The squares are suitable for class and work: nothing about relationships, money or awkward topics.
Tips and variations
- Add an extra rule: you have to ask each person one more question before writing down their name.
- Short on time or a small group? Use the 3×3 card; with more than fifteen people, go for the 4×4.
- On a video call, create a room and share the link in the chat: everyone marks squares from their own phone by picking who each one applies to.