Pregame Planning
Choose the social situation you anticipate to be uncomfortable and the people you want to play with. We recommend for a variety of reasons that you keep your playing group to six players max. Depending on the scenario it is possible to play alone, but it’s important to play Rounds 1 and 3 with at least one good friend.
Order your boards, or go digital! If you want a custom board schedule a time to chat!
Round 1:
Set Your Boundaries
Meet (ideally in person) to lay ground rules and discuss behaviors/ situations to look for.
Use your included “Meeting Agenda” to plan for Round 2. Answer important questions like:
Do you accept the printed items on your bingo card? What needs an edit? Is anything missing?
Are you playing in real time? Or tallying points for an overall winner ?
When is the afterparty? What is the bet?
When board/ game play rules have been mutually agreed and you are looking forward to the event, you are ready for Round 2
Round 2
Endure (Dissociation, FTW!)
Attend identified social event/ Endure defined Play Period.
Observe for identified behaviors.
Record during the event or recall to fill in bingo board squares after.
Round 3:
Validation
Discuss event, share examples for completed bingo squares.
Assign points to any additional items identified during the event.
Tally points.
Assign prizes to the winner.
Decide when you will play again.
Declare yourselves all winners for surviving another difficult event with grace and humor.
Modes of Play
Mode: Event
Examples: Co-parent Party, Corporate Retreat, Wedding
Participants: Mostly likely other event attendees (can be played with offsite friends who you want to keep updated or who provide balance if the event will be isolating.)
Important Notes: Round 1 and Round 3 are the main focus of this mode; setting expectations as a group and enjoying the stories of the event afterwards. While it’s important to mark your squares in close-to-real time, we don’t recommend comparing details with friends until Round 3, and part of your planning process is how to handle awkwardness if someone breaks and just can’t stop laughing.
Mode: Life
Examples: Public Transport, Job Seeking, Toxic Work, Retailers Therapy
Participants: Friends, Fellow commuters, Work Spouse, Lunch Bunch
Important Notes: These games are usually played in rounds or brackets. Because the nature of The Game is ongoing, instead of tied to a specific event, your cohort can choose the appropriate units of time to make your play enjoyable. You can play in close-to-real time, messaging as events happen, or meet up for weekend hangs to compare the best of the week/ play period.
Mode: Hybrid
Examples: Purple Families, Passive Aggressive Relations, US Healthcare
Participants: Your Person(s)
Important Notes: These are the games you have been playing for years, you were just missing the scoring system. How many times have you already planned for an antisocial holiday? How many commiserations for the latest round of poor behavior or insults? These games are to help you get through, or to give you the courage to push back and change the conversation. You can play them as rounds for ongoing interactions, or as events at a specific meal/ holiday/ gathering.
Point Variations
BINGO Straights
Can be tallied in real time, or post-game (best story of the square gets to keep it)
Total Squares
Simple: Each square = 1 pt
Complex: Diagonals = 1 pt, Squares = 2 pts, Circles= (up to) 3 pts
Brainstorm reward: Any player who suggests custom squares gets additional points when the behavior is observed.
Star in the Middle Variation: (5pts)
Instead of using the center square as free, every player brings their best example of most outrageous behavior observed.
1) Best story of the night gets to keep it.
2) Anyone with an additional story can claim the square, as agreed on by the group.
