Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Zingo

 The bar was set pretty high with the kids' game Spot It and several analyses followed:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTDKqW_GLkw
    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/math-card-game-spot-it-180970873/
    https://mathcircles.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SpotItPuzzleEdited.pdf
On the other hand, there's Zingo. Three copies of each tile exist, and gameplay proceeds like Bingo except only one player can claim a called tile. 

The game has six green cards and six red cards; the green cards are advertised as having fewer shapes in common. However, the pair on the right shares five of nine, more than nearly all pairs of red cards! Meanwhile, the left pair shares only two. The player with the left card has a definite advantage. 

This game would benefit from better cards.