A few of you have probably noticed me talking about book bingo a few times around here and were wondering what exactly I was going on about. Well, now that it’s April 1st (the start of the new bingo period) I thought I’d do a post about it.

r/Fantasy Book Bingo is something I initially started on kind of a whim. Several years ago, after I’d been skulking about reddit’s r/fantasy community for a bit, I found myself engaged in thread about book challenges. In the discussion I mentioned having done a book bingo before and then said ‘I should make a fantasy one for the subreddit’ and a couple of people were like ‘yeah, you totally should’ and thus r/Fantasy Book Bingo was born.

So, what is r/Fantasy Book Bingo? It’s a year long reading challenge with the aim of getting readers to branch out, look at books they may have otherwise passed up, discover new authors and subgenres, etc. It’s really all about broadening ones horizons while having fun reading. There is a bingo card with twenty-five squares, each with its own  specific requirement to tick off. If you get a bingo you can go into a prize drawing. If you fill out the entire card then you can get Reading Champion flair in the subreddit (basically a little tag beside your name that says Reading Champion).

Here is this year’s r/Fantasy Bingo Card!

The full rules and explanations for the squares are located here if you want to check it out.

This year is the fourth year I’ve made a bingo card for the subreddit and the challenge has grown a lot during that time. It’s sometimes a struggle to keep things fresh for the folks that participate every year while also keeping it fun for beginners. I spend a lot of time thinking about a good combination of squares for the card, running the prize drawings, answering questions about rules and if certain books count, all throughout the year. And even though it’s a lot of work, running bingo has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life. It makes me really happy to see people having fun with it and pushing their boundaries to find books they might never have reached for otherwise, especially when they discover new favorite reads. It’s fun seeing so many people are excited for the new card every year, people are making resources for it, and recommending books. Sometimes I feel like bingo has grown a bit beyond myself and you know, that’s totally fine. As long as people are having run and discovering new books, I’m a happy camper.

Hope a few of you decide to join in on the challenge!