How To Play Zingo! (3 Minute Guide)

OVERVIEW

Zingo is a fast-paced board game of matching for 2-8 players designed for younger children. Similar to the classic game of Bingo, players match words with pictures throughout the game and try to cover their boards before their opponents.

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GAMEPLAY

Setup

To begin, take the top off of the Zingo! Zinger and scramble all 72 of the tiles. Load the tiles into the Zinger, evenly divided into 2 separate stacks, and replace the top. All players should be able to see the Zingo! Zinger before the game begins. Finally, each player will get a two-sided Zingo! Card with the same colored side facing up. The green side indicates an easier game and the red is more competitive.

Goal

The object of the game is to be the first player to cover all the spaces on their Zingo card with matching tiles.

Player Actions

One player will be selected as the Dealer and will operate the Zingo! Zinger. The dealer will slide the Zinger forward and back to reveal 2 tiles. When players around the table see a tile pop up that matches an image on their Zingo! card, they will call out the name of the image, take the tile, and use it to cover the image on their card. Tiles that are not claimed will be placed back into the Zinger through the reload slots at the top. If two players call the same tile at the same time, it will go to the person who said it first. If it is a tie, the tile will go back into the Zinger. This will also happen if a player calls for a tile they don’t need to cover their board.

How to End the Game

The game ends in favor of the first player that covers all 9 spaces on their card and yells “ZINGO!”

Common House Rules

It is common for the dealer role to be assigned to the adult or oldest child in the game. Alternatively, the Zinger can be passed around the table for each player to get the chance to use it.

Rule Variations for Playing with Kids

Since Zingo was designed for early learning, it is the perfect game to play with kids with no necessary rule variations. While playing, children will learn to read and match images with words.

Variations of the Game

A variation of the game that can be played with the same components is called Mini-Zingo! In this version, the first player to match 3 images in a row is the winner. This is a much shorter version of the game. Another variation to try is called Zany Zingo! Before beginning, all players will decide on a pattern for everyone to match. The first player to match it on their board will win. Lastly, Multi-Card Zingo! consists of players using at least 2 cards in each round. The first player to completely fill one of the cards in front of them is the winner.