Two games, one app. Pick the one your room is playing.
Both games are the same at heart: one person — the host — calls out random numbers, and everyone else marks them off their own card. First to complete a required pattern wins that prize. What changes is the card, the number pool, and which patterns pay.
The classic American game. Numbers 1–75 on a 5×5 card, with a free centre.
A 5×5 grid — 25 squares. Each column sits under one letter of B-I-N-G-O, and each letter owns its own slice of the numbers:
The host calls one number at a time, always with its letter — “O-67”, “B-4”. The letter tells you which column to check. If it's on your card, mark it. Miss one? Every number called so far stays on screen, so a late glance always catches you up.
The host picks which patterns are in play before the game. Each is won once. Highlighted cells below show what a winning card looks like:
Any full row, column, or diagonal — five in a line. The free centre counts toward lines through the middle.
The four cells at the very corners of the card. Nothing in between matters.
Every number on the card (a.k.a. full house / coverall). The big one — it normally ends the game.
When your card completes an unclaimed pattern, it lights up on your screen — tap to claim. The app shows your board to the room, checks it against the numbers actually called, and awards or rejects it. Playing on paper? Shout “Bingo!” and hand your card to the host.
Also called Housie, or Bingo in the UK, Australia and India. Numbers 1–90 on a wider ticket. No letters are called.
3 rows × 9 columns = 27 cells, but only 15 hold numbers. The other 12 are blank on purpose. Every row always has exactly 5 numbers. Each column covers a fixed band:
The host calls numbers 1–90 one at a time, no letter — just “Twenty-seven”. Mark it if it's on your ticket. Traditional callers add rhyming nicknames (“two little ducks” for 22, “legs eleven” for 11) — that's flavour, never a rule.
Tambola (Housie) prizes are called dividends. The host picks which are in play, and each is won once — so several people can win different dividends in one game:
The first five numbers you mark, anywhere on the ticket. Usually the first prize gone.
All five numbers in the top row.
All five numbers in the middle row.
All five numbers in the bottom row.
The first and last number of the top row, and of the bottom row.
All fifteen numbers on the ticket. The grand prize — and the end of the game.
As soon as your ticket completes an unclaimed dividend, tap it to claim. The app checks it against the numbers actually called and awards or rejects it in front of the room. On paper? Shout “Tambola!” (or “Housie!”) and the host checks it.
One phone calls the numbers. Everyone else plays along on theirs.
Everyone in the room with you? Put the code on the big screen with Send to TV and let people scan it. Joining from elsewhere? Share the link — tapping it opens the app straight on the join screen with the code already filled in. Players pick how many tickets they want as they join, up to the max you set. Want to play too? Tick I'm playing too in the lobby before you start.
Manual — you tap to call each number, at your own pace. Best when you're calling out loud to people in front of you. Auto — the app calls a number every few seconds on a timer, better for a remote game. Switch between them any time mid-game.
When someone claims, the game pauses and their board is shown to everyone, checked against the numbers called. A valid claim is awarded; an invalid one — a bogey — is rejected and play resumes. If two players complete the same prize on the same number, your tie rule decides it: Share the prize (both win) or First come, first served (fastest valid claim). You set this before the game, so everyone plays by the same rule.
The app calls the numbers — it doesn't carry voices. If your room is spread out, keep a WhatsApp, Zoom or phone call running alongside it so people can hear each other react. That's half the fun.
Yes. Choose Paper game (offline) instead of creating a room and the app becomes a pure caller — it draws and announces numbers while everyone plays on printed tickets. There's no per-player checking in this mode; the host verifies claims by eye.
Nothing is lost. Every number called so far stays listed on your screen, so you can catch up any time. Numbers are never un-called.
Reopen the app and you'll be offered your room back. Your marked numbers are saved on your device, so you return to your ticket exactly as you left it.
Yes. Each prize is claimed independently, so the same player can take Early Five and later the Full House — unless your house rules say otherwise, which is a matter for the room, not the app.
No — they're two different games. Bingo's 5×5 card with a free space rewards patterns and shapes; Housie's 3×9 ticket rewards completing rows. Pick whichever your group grew up with.