bingo: Occasionally, I wonder why

I don’t believe every game and every real-life experience deserves an analogue in the digital world. In my humble opinion, some things just don’t translate well — like bingo.

I will assume you know the basic format of the real-life game, where a caller announces the letter and number of a randomly selected cell, and the audience marks their cards where they match. Line up or arrange corresponding marks on a card, shout “Bingo!” and perhaps win money.

Where this ancient digital version falls down is … well, everywhere. You’re given a single randomized “card,” and the computer plays the role of caller. Mark your card with the down arrow in the interval while a correct number is visible, and press the up arrow when you have a bingo. The computer will check, and that’s the end.

I have to wonder … why? There’s no interaction in this electronic version. There’s no payout. There’s no margin for error by mistakenly covering the wrong number. And unless you really test your number-checking skills by setting the calling interval to a second or two, there’s no real activity aside from pressing the down arrow.

This might be a contender for the worst game I’ve seen in the past two years. 😐

I think I could understand if the author wanted to build a bingo randomizing tool, or perhaps a tracking utility for real-life callers. I might have understood a bingo assistant for players with disabilities. Or perhaps some sort of multi-card tracking application, but as it is, this is just. … 😕

Anyway. It’s available and perhaps it will be of some use to someone. I won’t deny it works, only deny that it’s much of a game.