Play Ice Breaker Bingo To Warm Up The Retrospective Meeting

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Itamar Mula
Itamar Mula
Co-Founder, Acumen
Posted on
Sep 4, 2022
Updated on
Dec 11, 2022
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Icebreaker Bingo (also known as “People Bingo” “Human Bingo”, “Get to Know You Bingo”, “Networking Bingo”, or “Mingle Bingo”) is an icebreaker game that motivates players to mingle and learn all kinds of interesting facts about each other. The game’s cards contain prompts such as “Work out before work” and “Good cook.” In order to win, you must get a set of four squares in a row, column, or diagonal. Its purpose is to loosen up the group for the retrospective meeting and help them feel more comfortable with each other. It’s a low-risk and low-pressure way to learn more about your teammates. These conversations can reveal surprising facts about coworkers.


In this article we introduce the fun of Icebreaker Bingo, its benefits for your team members, and how to incorporate it successfully into your next meeting.

What is Icebreaker Bingo?

The Icebreaker Bingo game, also known as “Human Bingo,” is a fun, interactive game that works similarly to regular bingo, but with a twist. A great way to kick off a meeting, it can be used with groups of any size.
Using an online Bingo Ice breaker, custom bingo cards are created with statements or facts instead of numbers. These cards are then marked off by team members who fall into the right category.
Basically, if someone has the answer to the question or fact called out, they mark it off on their card. Similarly to regular bingo, the first person or team to obtain five consecutive marks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally—wins.
You can play Team Building Bingo both physically and remotely, thanks to digital versions such as our generator. There are also many other online games you can play to make remote team building more enjoyable. 

How Do You Play Icebreaker Bingo?

There are multiple ways you can play Icebreaker Bingo, either collaboratively or individually. 

Team effort

Find a suitable bingo card from our Icebreaker Bingo generator, randomize the questions and when you find the right match share the invite link with your peers. 

  1. Members take turns picking a category and guessing who in the room falls into it.
  2. Got it right? Mark the square by clicking it.
  3. Did you get it wrong? On to the next member of the team.
  4. Keep playing until everyone plays at least once, or until someone gets a BINGO!

This version of the game is perfect for hybrid or fully remote meetings, as it gives all participants a terrific opportunity to engage!

Individual Quest

Here are the steps to play Human Bingo individually:

1. Generate a bingo card from and share it with the t.
2. Let the team mingle and talk, and find people who share the traits listed on the bingo card.
3. Each square must be marked with the name of another player who fits the description.
4. First player to get four squares in a row/column/diagonal and shout “Bingo!” wins the round! 

Whether the team participated in a Team or Individual Quest, you can end by asking members to describe how they feel now that they know their teammates better. As people get to know one another, barriers are broken down, communication is opened up, and learning takes place. Breaking the ice during meetings is made easier with Icebreaker Bingo.

What Are the Benefits of Using Icebreaker Bingo?

Most people, especially on stressful days, view meetings as a necessary evil—but that doesn‘t have to be the case! Icebreaker Bingo is a simple way to make meetings more fun and engaging while also getting to know your team better.

Here are the benefits of using Icebreaker Bingo for your upcoming meeting:

Easy-Peasy

Since Icebreaker Bingo works just like regular bingo, there is hardly any learning curve. Its approachability also makes team members less hesitant to participate, making the process simpler and easier. When compared to other icebreaker games, this is a low-stress and casual way to get to know each other.

Encourages Collaboration

Icebreaker Bingo can serve as a highly effective icebreaker for work meetings by making people interact with one another. It is a fun way of fostering teamwork by connecting people. Icebreaker Bingo can also be a way to start off a meeting on a positive note, and can help keep the meeting on track by keeping everyone engaged.

Eases Work Tension

Work meetings such as Scrum meetings can be stressful, especially when there are many people in the room. Icebreaker Bingo is a great way to ease the tension and get everyone talking. Playing bingo gets people up and moving, and it's a fun way to learn more about your coworkers.

Find Out Fun Facts About Your Team

Icebreakers give team members a break from constantly having to talk about work-related topics. With Icebreaker Bingo, you gain an understanding of someone's interests, culture, and anything else fun about them, especially if you're playing with people from different departments or colleagues you haven't met yet. If you are looking for a fun and creative way to introduce new people, Icebreaker Bingo is for you.

Share Your Experiences

Ask team members to share an interesting trait they learned about someone else or describe how they feel now that they know their peers better. When people take the time to get to know each other, barriers dissolve, people open up, and learning can take place.

Final Thoughts

The use of icebreakers is more effective than you might think, and Icebreaker Bingo provides the perfect opportunity to get your team to warm up and introduce themselves.

By doing this, tension at work will be reduced, and everyone will become better acquainted, resulting in more productive and efficient meetings. Plus, finding out surprising facts about colleagues improves workplace relationships and helps employees understand each other's cultures and interests.

Icebreakers are only one of the many tools that GoRetro provides to make retrospectives fun and efficient. Your team's retrospectives will be successful thanks to GoRetro’s intuitive dashboard, flexible statuses, and analytics features.

About the author

Itamar Mula
Co-Founder, Acumen

I’m an entrepreneur with a passion for agile practices and continuous learning. As co-founder of Acumen and former co-founder and VP R&D of Nextpeer (acquired by Rakuten), I have extensive experience in building and leading successful companies. I’m excited to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the tech industry and driving innovation through experimentation and collaboration with my team.

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