How to play Buzzkill Bingo
Three or more players. Agree on the arena before it starts: one specific meeting, or all day across meetings, Slack and email. Everyone loads the same game code, so the cards are different but drawn from the same pool.
Marking a square
A square counts when someone who is not playing says the phrase unprompted. Word forms count, so "circling back" marks "circle back", the same matching rule the Buzzkill extension uses. Every mark needs evidence: another player heard it too, or you note down who said it and when. In Slack or email, a quote settles it.
No baiting
You may not steer the conversation toward your squares. You may not ask Kevin what the low-hanging fruit is. If another player catches you fishing, that square is dead for you for the rest of the game.
Winning, which is the whole game
Getting a line is not a win. You cannot announce it. To claim it you have to work your Victory Phrase into the meeting out loud, naturally, without any non-player noticing. So the game about mocking corporate jargon ends with the winner committing the crime in public while everyone else sits there watching it happen.
If you cannot make yourself do it, you sit on the line and wait for the next meeting, and someone else may fill their card and claim first. Chickening out has a real cost. Filling the entire card in a single meeting is a Blackout and an instant promotion.
The House Phrase
Every company has a phrase of the quarter that leadership cannot stop saying. Type yours into the House Phrase box and it goes in the middle of the card. It is not a free square. You still have to hear it. You will.
Playing a season
One meeting is a round. Keep standings on the breakroom door or a pinned Slack canvas and climb the ladder: Intern Associate Vice President Managing Director Executive. The season champion holds Executive until somebody takes it. A Board Meeting win counts double, and a Blackout in one takes the Executive title outright.
Rule Zero
The game hunts phrases, not people. If the same coworker fills half your card, the right move is to invite them to play, not to screenshot them.
Meeting bingo, Zoom bingo, and work bingo
In a meeting
Meeting bingo is the classic. Pick The Meeting for anything from 30 to 60 minutes, or The Standup for the 15 minutes that always runs 25, and have everyone load the code before the first slide.
On a Zoom or Teams call
The easiest version, because nobody can see your other tab. Keep the card open beside the call, tap squares as they land, and settle disputes in a side chat with the other players, never the meeting chat.
On a conference call
Conference call bingo is audio only, so the evidence rule matters more: note who said it and when. The hour-long dial-in with forty people on mute is what The All-Hands card is for.
Across the office
For work bingo that runs all day, pick The Long Game and play across meetings, Slack and email. Coworkers on other floors or in other time zones join with the invite link, and a printed card passes for meeting notes.