Everything You Need to Know About Icebreaker Bingo: Play this Game with Your Team Today!

Icebreakers are an excellent resource to leverage in a group setting as they help participants feel more comfortable and at ease while getting to know one another. Ice breaker bingo is a particular variation of icebreaker that combines a bingo framework with networking to help participants get to know one another in a fun and exciting way. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about icebreaker bingo while teaching you how to implement icebreaker bingo into your next networking event.

What is ice breaker bingo?

Icebreaker bingo is a fun and innovative way to help people get to know each other. Used to break the ice in a group setting, this game is played by distributing a bingo card to each participant with different characteristics or statements in each square. Participants then mingle and chat among themselves in an attempt to find someone that correlates with each square. As soon as participants find someone that matches a square, they mark it as completed and continue until they eventually get a Bingo. The first person to get a horizontal, or diagonal line shouts “Bingo” and wins the game!

Why are ice breakers important?

Icebreakers are important because they help create a positive, inclusive environment that fosters connectivity, collaboration, and communication between participants. In addition, they help break down barriers and create a comfortable, relaxed environment where people can interact with each other in a natural setting which can be especially helpful in group settings such as team building events, networking opportunities, conferences, or training sessions. Additional key reasons why ice breakers are important include:

1. Reduced anxiety

It’s natural to feel anxious or overwhelmed when meeting new people; however, it can be daunting if you aren’t in a comfortable environment. Ice breaker games like ice breaker bingo helps reduce anxiety by creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere that helps participants get to know one another in a natural setting.

2. Fosters collaboration

Icebreaker games like icebreaker bingo helps encourage collaboration and teamwork, helping participants learn how to work effectively and cohesively towards a common goal.

3. Builds connections

Building connections can be difficult which is why it’s important to get creative and think outside the box. Ice breaker bingo provides participants with an excellent opportunity to find commonalities while engaging in meaningful conversations that help build lasting connections.

4. Encourages creativity

Creativity is key in creating an environment that encourages employees to think strategically and outside the box. Ice breakers often include games or activities that encourage creativity which often leads to innovation down the road.

5. Enhances communication

Icebreakers are an excellent way to improve communication both in personal and professional settings. Having the opportunity to communicate at ease during icebreaker games like ice breaker bingo is a great way to foster an open line of communication that helps enhance communication skills between team members and peers.

What are the benefits of ice breaker bingo?

Ice breaker bingo has several benefits including:

1. Breaking the ice

Ice breaker bingo poses an excellent opportunity to break the ice between participants that may not be familiar with one another, providing a fun and easy way for participants to get to know one another in a creative way.

2. Enhanced teamwork

Ice breaker bingo is an excellent way to enhance teamwork. To hone in on collaboration, simply encourage participants to work in teams. Doing so will enhance collaboration while creating a fun and healthy competition among teammates.

3. Encouraging socializing

There’s nothing worse than a networking event that doesn’t provide participants with enough opportunity to chat and connect. Ice breaker bingo encourages participants to talk to one another and socialize which can help foster connections and relationships.

4. Improved communication skills

Ice breaker bingo helps improve communication skills and build confidence among participants by encouraging them to get outside of their comfort zones by communicating with each other to find matches on their bingo cards.

How do I host ice breaker bingo?

Ice breaker bingo is a great way to initiate conversations while providing guests with the opportunity to get to know one another in a fun and exciting way! Keep reading to learn how to host the perfect ice breaker bingo game!

1. Create and distribute the bingo cards

The first step to hosting a successful ice breaker bingo game is creating bingo cards with different statements or characteristics on each square. It’s important to get creative and have fun with this step while remaining relatable. You will want to make sure participants have the opportunity to check squares off of their cards. You can create the cards yourself or leverage an online bingo generator if you need some inspiration. After you’ve created your bingo cards, it’s time to distribute the cards to each participant. You will want to make sure everyone in attendance has access to your virtual cards, so no one is left out when the game begins.

2. Explain the rules and kick things off

Now that everyone has access to your cards, you can kick things off! Before starting, make sure everyone understands the rules and has everything they need to play the game. It’s important to let guests know that they must mingle and talk to one another in order to find someone that matches each statement on their bingo card. When they find someone that matches the statement or characteristics on their card, they can mark it as complete and work towards completing a “Bingo”.

3. Announce the winner and play again!

Similar to the classic Bingo game, a winner will be crowned as soon as someone completes an entire horizontal diagonal or vertical line. As soon as they shout “Bingo” you can reward them with a thoughtful prize and start the game over again!

How to take ice breaker bingo to the next level

There are many tactics that you can leverage to take your ice breaker bingo game to the next level while making it more engaging including:

1. Adding a theme

Adding a theme to your ice breaker bingo game is an excellent way to make the activity more engaging. When choosing a theme, it’s important to get creative. The more fun you have fleshing out your theme, the more engaging it will be for participants. For example, you can use themes like music, movies, or travel. If you choose travel, you could leverage the seven wonders of the world and learn which teammates have traveled to these destinations and so on.

2. Leveraging technology

Technology is an excellent way to level up the experience and the best part about it is that it’s always changing. If you can’t find the feature or function you’re looking for today, it may be released tomorrow. During ice breaker bingo, technology can be used to generate and or distribute your virtual bingo cards.

3. Offering a prizes/ incentives

Offering prizes is an excellent way to incentive participants while encouraging them to get the most out of the experience. If you offer prizes or incentives, participants may be more inclined to put their best foot forward and participate in the activity. Not only will this encourage participants to mingle amongst one another, but it will also introduce healthy competition among participants. When choosing a prize, it can be anything from a small token of appreciation to a larger reward like a gift card or experience.

4. Making it more challenging

Being methodical with which questions you choose will help you make the game more difficult for participants. This means choosing specific or obscure statements to add to your bingo cards, so participants have to talk to more people and think outside the box to play the game.

5. Incorporating team building activities

Incorporating team-building activities into your ice breaker bingo game is a great way to promote collaboration and teamwork. For example, you can assign participants teams to complete the game as a team as opposed to a singular participant. The team that completes their bingo card first wins!

6. Adding humor

Adding humor is a great way to lighten things up and help participants feel more relaxed. Adding funny squares like “knows how to do the worm”, “has swallowed a bug”, or “can lick their elbow” is a great way to lighten things up while encouraging participants to have fun. If nothing else, participants will be sure to have a laugh!

Host icebreaker bingo with Remo

Remo is an all-in-one immersive platform that was built to bring people together online. With Remo, you can host virtual events and facilitate engaging interactions that mimic in-person experiences. For the first time ever, you can use an online tool to mimic in-person interactions like walking around, meeting in a fun environment with one of Remo’s custom floor plans, or simply hosting an icebreaker bingo game among your peers. Built with connectivity in mind, Remo is the premier choice for virtual events and the perfect platform to leverage for virtual icebreaker bingo.

Interested in testing it out? Get started with your FREE TRIAL today or click here to learn more about how Remo can help you create an engaging online event for your guests.