Hosting a Boombox Bingo Event

Starting the Game

Pre-Game Registration (Sample Script - 15 and 5 mins before)

Once you've gotten everything set up, you'll make 2-3 announcements in the 30 minutes before quiz start time - one about 15 minutes before starting, another about 10 minutes before starting, and another about 5 minutes before starting. These announcements should be a brief introduction letting people know who you are, what's happening, and how to play. Feel free to make it your own, but here's an example, plus a downloadable version if you want to keep a script on hand.

Welcome to VENUE! We are about to begin Boombox Bingo, presented by Geeks Who Drink. It's totally free to play, and we have several prizes up for grabs.

To join the game, all you need is a phone or other internet-connected device. Make your way over to PLAY-DOT-BOOMBOX BINGO-DOT-COM. Once there, select "Get your bingo card HERE", type in tonight's Game Code, LIVECODE, and click "Join."

Anyone is welcome to play - you don't need a team to win at Boombox Bingo. Be sure to order your delicious beverages now, because we'll be starting our game in X minutes.

I'm your host, NAME, and if you have any questions I'm here to help!

How to Introduce the event (Sample Script - event start time)

When it's time to start your game, you'll need to go over the format and explain the rules. Here's an example of what to say, plus a downloadable version if you want to keep a script on hand.

It's time to start Boombox Bingo at VENUE!

Boombox Bingo is totally free to play, but in order to join you'll need to head over to PLAY-DOT-BOOMBOX BINGO-DOT-COM and click "Get your bingo card HERE." Then, type in tonight's Game Code, LIVECODE. Once again, that's LIVECODE. From there, all you have to do is click "Join" and your Bingo card will automatically generate. Feel free to play alone or with some friends, but everyone is allowed to have their own Bingo card.

Tonight we will be playing six rounds of Boombox Bingo! You'll be using one bingo card for the first 3 rounds, and a second bingo card for the next 3 rounds.

Your only job tonight is to listen to the songs I play and check them off on your bingo card when you hear them - it's that simple! Each round will have a different winning pattern, which I'll announce at the start of each round and remind you of several times throughout. Make sure you check songs off even if they're not in the current winning pattern, because they might be the song you need to win a future round. Once you've gotten a bingo in the winning pattern, make sure you shout "BINGO!" for all to hear, click “Verify Bingo” below your card, and then make your way up here so I can scan the resulting QR code and verify you've won.

Here are tonight's rules:

Using Shazam or searching lyrics is allowed! Feel free to queue that up in case you don't recognize a song. You also have a Song History button on your card that will show you the songs that have played.
Feel free to ask for help - I can't repeat songs, but I CAN tell you the name of the songs that have previously played if you accidentally zone out for a minute or two.
No ties! The first person to yell Bingo will be the first person to be scanned. If you yell it at the same time, we'll do a tiebreaker to determine who gets their card scanned first.

The winner of each game will receive a prize, so that's six prizes total - tonight, we're giving away [INSERT PRIZES HERE]. Let's go ahead and get started with Round 1 [PLAYLIST NAME]. Our first winning pattern of the night is...

Running the Game

Explaining the Winning Patterns

During a Bingo event, there will be 2 games played with 3 rounds of bingo each - that's 6 rounds total. The Singo app defaults to winning patterns in the following order: Single Line, Double Line, Blackout. The Geeks Who Drink Editorial Team will provide a description in each week's playlists of what winning patterns you should use in your games. Round 1 and 2 will vary by playlist/card (but R1 is frequently Single Line) and Round 3 will always be Blackout. Keep reading for some instructions on what each winning pattern looks like and how to explain it to your audience.

Winning Patterns

Run of Show/Event Outline

Each Boombox Bingo event should last about 2 hours. You'll run six rounds of bingo, 3 on Side A and 3 on Side B. Players will use one card for the first 3 rounds, and another card for the next 3 rounds. That's two cards (Side A and Side B), six total rounds, for six total winners. Each set should last approximately 1 hour, including breaks and prizes.

Game introduction (see above for a sample script)
Side A: Round 1, Variable (often Single Line) (25-30 minutes)
Side A: Round 2, Variable (5-10 minutes)
Side A: Round 3, Blackout (15-20 minutes)
10 -15 minute break (required)*
Side B: Round 1, Variable (often Single Line) (25-30 minutes)
Side B: Round 2, Variable (5-10 minutes)
Side B: Round 3, Blackout (15-20 minutes)

During each round, be sure to remind players 1) which side they're on (A or B) and 2) what the winning pattern is. Since they're using the same card for 3 games, they also shouldn't be deselecting anything - previous songs played will still count towards future bingos!

*You can take more than one break between the two cards if you like/your venue prefers. Most BNG events last about 1 hr, 45 mins - 1 hr, 50 mins. If you finish the first card earlier than 50 minutes into the game, take a longer break between cards. If you finish closer to the top of the hour, take a 10 minute break.

Running a Round

Click Play Singo! and then Start Round 1 to begin the playlist after introducing the rules and explaining the winning pattern.
The default winning patterns will be set to Single Line for Round 1, Double Line for Round 2, and Blackout for Round 3. The winning patterns for Round 1 and 2 will be specified by Editorial in the playlist description, but Round 3 will always be Blackout.

Always double-check that the pattern is correct by looking at the Playlist's notes before clicking Start Round.

The play button on the left-hand side will then turn into a pause button and display a countdown of the clip. Once the clip is done playing, it will turn into an x and display a countdown of the delay between songs (yours should be set to 3 seconds in your settings, remember?). During that pause, the console will display the title/artist of the next song in the playlist.

If you click the pause button to pause a song clip, it will start at the beginning of that song once you click play again.

If Autopilot is selected (blue), then each clip will play automatically. If it is deselected (white), then you will need to manually click play for each clip.

The top display will automatically scroll as you advance through the round. You can click and drag forwards and backwards if you need to look at titles of songs that have already played, or need a preview of songs yet to come.

During the round, be sure to remind people of the winning pattern every few songs, and feel free to throw in some jokes or fun facts as they come up.

When someone yells "BINGO!", click Scan a Singo.

Viewing the Song History/Late Joins

"Hey there, has this song been played yet?"

There's a decent chance you'll be asked this during a night of Boombox Bingo. In order to easily answer, we recommend two courses of action:

1. Players have access to view what songs have been played by clicking View song history next to their bingo card.

After clicking View song history another browser tab will open on their device with the song history screen, just like the view the host has access to in Live Screens.

2. We also still recommend having the Song History live on a browser tab on your device, just in case you need to walk anyone through it.

Navigate to live.singo.app and enter the 4-letter code for your game.

Launch the Song History, as shown in the image below.

Songs will appear in the order they are played, with most recent songs first. (see image below) That way, if someone asks you "hey, what played 2 songs ago?" you can easily answer them. If they ask you "Did 'It's a Small World After All' play yet?" you can use the search function on your device (ctlr/cmd+f) to search for the song title and give them an answer, rather than scanning through the entire page. Please DO NOT project this screen to your players, as it does not include our branding, especially since they have access to it on their own devices now.

If someone joins mid-round, they are likely to leave if they can catch up.

Please encourage them to use their Song History or come up to your table so you can let them know what songs have been played.

You can use the Song History to help them, or you can scroll back in the dashboard (see below) of the Singo app. Note, however, that if you scroll in the Singo app, it will bounce you back to the current position every time a new song begins to play.

Emoji Hints (Video-enabled venues only)

To add more visual interest to your game, and to cut down on questions like "What was that last song?", we recommend using Emoji Hints! These will be projected on a player-facing screen.

Navigate to live.singo.app to launch the dashboard.

Launch the Emoji Hints, as shown in the image below.

As each song plays, there will be a time tracker across the top of the screen. As time runs down, the screen will first display the artist name and then the song title.

Skip a Song/Let it Play

If a song plays that you (and more importantly, the crowd) particularly hate, you can skip it! It will still count towards a bingo, so you might want to announce the name of the song as you skip it. Please use this feature sparingly, or it will start to affect the run time of your event. Simply click Console and then Skip Song.

On the flip side, if a song starts playing that you and the crowd absolutely love, and you're down for some spontaneous karaoke, you can click Let it Play, and the song will continue to play for the full length of the recording. If you get tired of hearing it and want to move on, just de-select Let it Play - no need to use "skip song."

Scanning a Singo

Once someone has bingo, they will need to click Tap to announce bingo on their screen to generate a QR code. This will not alert you in any way, as the Singo app does not track how many players are participating in a game. They will need to also yell "BINGO!" to alert you that they've won, and then they will make their way to your station so that you can scan their QR code. If something isn't working and you need to manually end the round, navigate to Console --> Manual Singo/End Round.

To scan their QR code, do the following:

Make sure the winning pattern at the top of your screen is correct.
On the Singo app, click Scan a Singo
If you're on a laptop or similar device, the app will then display a QR code that you need to scan with your phone, which will open the Remote Control. If you're hosting from a tablet, the device will prompt you to allow camera access and you'll be able to scan the player's QR code with your tablet's camera.
While you are waiting to verify the bingo, the default suspense music will play (after you've clicked Scan a Singo) if you haven't disabled that setting. We definitely recommend using the suspense music, however, because otherwise it'll just be a lot of awkward silence.
The Remote Control will open (pictured below, left), at which point you can scan the player's QR code (pictured below, right). The scanner will automatically detect whether or not the bingo is valid, and the Winner or Loser sound will play (remember, you can change this sound in your settings). Make sure to double-check that the pattern on your scanner is correct! If it doesn't match the round, click the red "power" button at the top of the scanner to turn it off and back on again. It will refresh when you turn it back on.
If the bingo is valid, the Winner Tone will play, you'll close the QR Code on your app, and the Singo app will automatically prompt you to start the next round. If the bingo is not valid, you'll just continue playing the current round.

If your scanner isn't working, check this part of the FAQ for steps on how to determine a winner manually.

Changing the Winning Pattern

The Singo app will default to winning patterns in this order: Single Line, Double Line, Blackout. The patterns for each round are dictated by our Editorial team in the playlist you've loaded. Always check the playlist to make sure that the winning pattern matches the round you're on! If it doesn't, you'll need to change it before beginning the round.

To change the winning pattern, click on Console, Change winning pattern, and then click and drag to select the correct option. From there, you can begin the round.

Ending Side A and moving to Side B

Once 3 rounds of bingo have been won, you'll take a 10 minute break. During that time, you'll need to do the following:

Remind players that after the break, you'll be starting a new Bingo card on Side B. Once you load the new playlist and press Play Singo their card will switch automatically, but if for some reason they got kicked out, they can navigate back to play.boomboxbingo.com, select Side B, and enter the code again.
Load your new playlist following the steps laid out here
Edit the winning pattern if it does not match the playlist description
Click Play Singo to make sure the players see their new card.
Play some background music until you're ready to begin Side B

Using the Remote Control

The remote control function lets you use your phone to control the Singo App on your hosting device (laptop/tablet). This is useful, because while your hosting device will be connected to AV and therefore tethered to your hosting table, using the remote control lets you walk around the venue, interact with players, answer questions, and still be able to play/pause your music should you need.

To use the remote control, you'll need to first load your playlist and start the game. Then, click "Console" and "Remote Control." If you don't do this at the beginning of your game, no worries - when you click "Scan a Singo" after the first round, you'll be prompted to open the Remote Control then.

Then, scan the QR code with your phone. It will launch a browser page that will let you play, pause, and scan a winner, all without needing to interact with your hosting device directly.

Taking Pictures (Required!)

FAQ

What happens if two people get bingo at the same time?

The person who calls "Bingo" first is scanned first. Multiple bingos on the same square are a fact of life but players don't usually call in unison. If they do...

Rock, paper, scissors! Whoever wins gets their card scanned first.

What happens if someone gets two patterns with one song (e.g., the last song played fills in a double line bingo in a perpendicular or diagonal pattern)? Do they win the first bingo prize and immediately get the second bingo prize as well?

There's a possibility that the song that clinches a single line bingo also clinches as double line bingo at the same time - if they're perpendicular or diagonal, and the last song needed is the spot where they overlap. In this scenario, when you scan a winner for single line bingo, they would get that prize. But then when you move into Round 2, they'd technically have a double line bingo before you even start playing the next song.

It is the player's job to let you know that they have 2 bingos and stay up at the host platform in order for you to scan their double line bingo once you start round 2. So if they come up for you to scan their bingo in Round 1 and tell you that they also have double line bingo, great! They get two prizes! If they go sit down and don't tell you they have double line bingo, oh well. This is a still a first-come, first-served situation.

What do I do if I accidentally scan the wrong pattern and give out a prize when I shouldn't have?

This is super unlikely to happen, but here's some guidance anyway. Let us imagine the following scenario:

You're enjoying Round 2 of bingo (double line winning pattern), and someone yells "Bingo!" They make their way up to your hosting stand, you scan their card, a winner is declared, and you give them a prize. Then, you look at your scanner and realize that it was still set to "Single Line" as the winning pattern. Oh no! What ever will you do!

In reality, it probably doesn't matter. You messed up, but someone got a prize. If you don't call attention to it, you can proceed as normal. Just be sure to turn the scanner off and on again before you scan for Round 3 so it syncs with the game.

If you're a stickler for the rules and you desperately want to fix your mistake, keep reading.

Once a winner has been detected by the Singo app, it will automatically change the winning pattern to whatever that of the next round is. In this example, let's say that Round 3 is going to be a blackout bingo.

If you realize the mistake before clicking "Start Round 3" in Singo:

Change the winning pattern in the app settings back to double line
Click the red "power button" on your scanner twice to turn the scanner off and on again, which will sync it with the app.
Call the winner up again to scan their card and make sure they did, in fact, have a double line bingo.
If they are a winner, great! Proceed as normal. Change the winning pattern to blackout again and click "Start Round 3".
If they aren't a winner, first ask the crowd if anyone else has double line bingo. If so, scan to verify and then proceed by changing the winning pattern back to blackout again and clicking "Start Round 3." If nobody else has bingo, it gets a little more complicated
- Make sure the winning pattern it set to double line (or whatever you're still looking for) and click "Start Round 3". Once someone calls bingo, scan their card to verify, and hand them a prize.
- At this point, the Singo app will tell you that the game is over, but that you can continue if you like. Change the winning pattern to blackout (or whatever Round 3 is), click the "play" button on the left-hand side of the app, and continue through your playlist until someone calls a bingo for Round 3. Once that happens, make sure your scanner is synced with the winning pattern, and scan their card to verify. You'll still be able to do this even though the app said the game is over.

If you realize the mistake after clicking "Start Round 3" in Singo:

Change the winning pattern in the app settings back to double line
Click the red "power button" on your scanner twice to turn the scanner off and on again, which will sync it with the app.
Call the winner up again to scan their card and make sure they did, in fact, have a double line bingo.
If they are a winner, great! The app will tell you that the game is over, but that you can continue if you like. Change the winning pattern to blackout (or whatever Round 3 is), click the "play" button on the left-hand side of the app, and continue through your playlist until someone calls a bingo for Round 3. Once that happens, make sure your scanner is synced with the winning pattern, and scan their card to verify. You'll still be able to do this even though the app said the game is over.
If they aren't a winner, first ask the crowd if anyone else has double line bingo. If so, scan to verify and then proceed by changing the winning pattern back to blackout (or whatever Round 3 is). The app will tell you that the game is over but that you can continue if you like. Click the "play" button on the left-hand side of the app and continue through your playlist until someone calls a bingo for Round 3. Once that happens, make sure your scanner is synced with the winning pattern and scan their card to verify. You'll still be able to do this even though the app said the game is over. If nobody else has bingo, do the following:
- Make sure the winning pattern it set to double line (or whatever you're still looking for) and continue with Round 3. Once someone calls bingo, scan their card to verify, and hand them a prize.
- At this point, the Singo app will tell you that the game is over, but that you can continue if you like. Change the winning pattern to blackout (or whatever Round 3 is), click the "play" button on the left-hand side of the app, and continue through your playlist until someone calls a bingo for Round 3. Once that happens, make sure your scanner is synced with the winning pattern, and scan their card to verify. You'll still be able to do this even though the app said the game is over.

Things are frozen. What do I do?

Restart Singo. Don't open it up on your computer at home and leave it running for several hours before your event. It doesn't like that. Best practice is to download the playlists at home, exit Singo, and then open it back up when you're at the venue.

My scanner isn't working, and I've already tried restarting things. How do I manually declare a winner and move on to the next round??

To manually check a Bingo, you'll need to do the following:

Click "Scan a Singo" to pause the session and play suspense music even though your scanner isn't working.

Look at the songs that the person has marked as bingo. If you know off the top of your head that all of them have definitely been played (easy with single line), then go ahead and declare them a winner. Then, you'll click on Console --> Manual Singo/End Round. Proceed as normal.
If you're not sure if all the songs have been played (more likely with a blackout round), open live.singo.app and enter the 4 letter code for your Singo session.
Click "Launch" under Song History to pull up a list of songs that have already played during your session.
Have the winner read the songs in their winning pattern while you use your device's search function (ctrl/cmd + F) to search the names of the songs. If they're all on your song history, then great! They win!
Close the "scan a singo" screen on the singo app, then click on Console --> Manual Singo/End Round. The app will move on to the next round, and you'll proceed as normal.

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