I was intrigued about playing Quingo. Having seen it advertised throughout the year I decided we should head along and give it a go as one of my fifty-two new things.
I love a good quiz. Bingo is something I’ll happily play but wouldn’t particularly seek out. Combining the two sounded like a great idea. Dragging the Other Half along with me, would we make a winning team?
What Is Quingo?
It’s what you get when you cross a quiz with bingo, and it’s a brilliant twist on the traditional format. It works a bit like this:
- Teams are given a sheet with blank answer spaces.
- Each team numbers their answer spaces in a random order from 1 to 21.
- The questions are asked in numerical order, teams have to write their answers in their corresponding answer space.
- Once all of the questions have been asked, the answers are given in a random order.
- Teams mark off their own answers.
- The team who has a line of correct answers across the sheet shout Quingo.
- Their answers are checked, and if they have got them right they are the winners.
Playing Quingo At Spark
Spark is an absolutely fantastic place in the centre of the the city of York.
It’s essentially a space for eating and drinking made from shipping containers. But it is so much more than that.
It is an incubator for innovation and creativity. It’s a platform for entrepreneurs taking some first steps to bring their business ideas to reality. It’s a communal space for people to gather for really good food, drinks, and good company.
The independent food outlets often change and produce some of the most delicious and inventive flavour combinations. Whether it’s to enjoy a drink with friends, or take part in one of the hosted events, Spark should definitely be on your itinerary on a trip to York.
Festive Quingo
Decked out in our festive jumpers, we went along the week before Christmas. It was busy, but we found a space to sit on a table with a team of three. They knew the drill as they’d played before, so we checked in with them for hints and tips on how to play.
Whilst speed quizzing uses your phone to input answers, Quingo was good old pen and paper. I’d not done much hand writing in a while, so hoped I’d be able to read my own words!
Ready for playing Quingo
We paid our £2 entry fee per person, and in return were given our Quingo answer sheet, pen, and a pair of headphones each.
The headphones were a brilliant idea. As it was so busy and noisy with people embracing the festive spirit, we would certainly have struggled to hear the questions over an ordinary speaker. Instead, our host was incredibly clear, and we just uncovered an ear to confer answers before committing them to paper.
Sending songs over to the quizmaster, quizzers created an eclectic Christmas playlist which was played through the headphones too as a backing track. There were some very questionable festive tunes selected!
Often one of the toughest parts of any quiz is picking a team name. As a lover of a pun, and having a penchant for the 80’s, we went with Quizney Houston.
Quiz Time
Quingo consisted of two rounds of 21 questions. Randomly numbering the answer spaces on both sides of the sheet, we were ready.
The questions were all on a festive theme, ranging from why Mr Bean got his head stuck in a turkey, to song lyrics, opening lines to Christmas stories, and films. We loved the mix of categories.
Eyes Down For Bingo
Once we’d completed round one, the answers were given. It was tense. Marking them off, we hadn’t done too badly, although we’d talked ourselves out of a few of them.
Looking like we would eventually get a line of right answers across the page, a table near us triumphantly shouted out. Answers double checked, it was confirmed they’d won a round of drinks.
The rest of the answers were given out and we totalled up our overall score. It wasn’t our finest performance – there was plenty of room to brush up on our seasonal knowledge!
The Second Round
Another set of 21 questions kept the teams quiet as everyone delved into the back of their minds to recall singers, traditions and movies associated with Christmas.
Again, the answers were read out. Unfortunately we seemed to get a few wrong that got in the way of us completing a line. A nearby team called out Quingo long before we were looking like we might make it all the way across.
The rest of the answers were given and we kicked ourselves for changing our minds at last minute on some of them, but it had been brilliant fun.
Will I Be Playing Quingo Again?
So, we didn’t win either round, but it had been a fantastically fun night. We indulged in some amazingly scrumptious chicken from Clucking Oinks for our supper too. I’ll definitely be playing again. Combining good food with Quingo is a winner in my book!
It’s fast paced, fun, and I like the twist on the usual pub quiz format. It’ll be interesting to see what the questions are like when it’s not Christmas, and hopefully we might even be able to shout Quingo ourselves in the future.
Want To Try It Yourself?
- I’ve had a look online and Quingo doesn’t seem to crop up all that often.
- To play Quingo where I did, you’d need to visit Spark in York.
- It usually takes place every Wednesday at 7pm, but is worth getting there early to guarantee you can find a seat. Check out the Spark Instagram account for up-to-date details.
- Have a look on eventbrite. I did find a couple of Quingo events advertised on there, so it’s worth a look to see if there’s one happening near you.
Cost Of Experience
- It cost £2 per person to enter the quiz when we took part in December 2024.
Recommendations
- Go along and have fun. Pens, paper and headphones are all provided, so you just need to take yourself.
- No cheating. Taking a sneaky look at your phone is not in the spirit of Quingo.
- Take a picture. If you do go along and give it a go, don’t forget to capture the experience! Good luck, and let me know how you get on! Especially let me know of your good team names!
Interesting mix between two popular games. Spices it up a bit as typically, Bingo is usually played among the older crowd. I dig it.
Awesome! If you’re ever in York I’ll take you along for a game – you can come up with the team name! You’re right, Bingo does have a bit of a reputation for being played by a certain age group, this definitely gave it a good twist.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Having never heard of Quingo, this absolutely fascinating to read! It certainly does sound like a really fun thing to try out. I don’t know if it’s played anywhere near me, but I’m certainly going to keep an eye out for it just in case it turns up. What a cool thing to play!
Ah Molly, I really hope you can find somewhere to give it a try! It’s brilliant fun!
Thanks for reading – and a very happy new year to you too! Hope your 2025 has got off to a fantastic start.
Sally :o)