I couldn’t escape Bingo

Thanks to Halloween, our son has now been introduced to Bingo. He enjoyed several games in a row and I’m sure that Bingo will come out again in the near future.

Now, you might expect this to be the big where I say, after years of scorn for Bingo, I say that it’s not that bad a game. I’ve been through that with Mastermind after our son got interesting in that. Nope, sorry. Bingo violates one of the most crucial parts of being a game in my eyes. 

There are no decisions.

Okay, there are two decisions. Am I actually going to play Bingo and how many Bingo sheets am I going to use? After that, you are basically just keeping a record of what gets drawn. 

I will admit that Bingo does have some uses for me personally right now. It is an activity that has our preschooler sitting quietly for and helps him practice pattern recognition, which is a good skill for gaming and in general.

However, at best, it is a springboard board for much better activities. Games like Take It Easy or Karuba or Rise of Augustus use some of the core concepts of Bingo but add very real choices, making them at least a hundred times better. Even versions of Road Trip Bingo are better since they practice observational skills.

Oh, I’ll be okay with playing Bingo regularly over the next few years. It’s part of the journey. But I’ll be dreaming of Take It Easy while I do it.