Hello Spring Breakers!

If you’re here I want to THANK YOU for helping us out with the Spring Break Beta of Tingo! Margo and I have worked very hard to turn this wacky idea into something that is real. Your help running it through its paces will be incredibly helpful in understanding what’s left to do!

Tingo?

You probably know what Tingo is if you’re here. But in case you don’t, Tingo is a Social Scavenger Hunt Bingo Game. One person makes a game, decides what everyone is going to find, and invites their friends to play. Bingo rules, whoever finds 5 things in a row gets a Tingo! Get a second Tingo! and you win!

Getting started

If you haven’t installed Tingo yet here’s how to get started.

Tingo is only available on iOS right now. Android will be ready when we launch but not yet.

EVERYBODY who is going to play needs to go through these steps to install Tingo, not just the person who is making the game.

TestFlight

First you have to install an app from Apple called “TestFlight”.

Tingo

You won’t find Tingo on the App Store. (Yet) So you’ll have to come here for this link.

We might push updates while you’re playing. Those should get installed automatically, but if you need to you can come to this TestFlight app again and click “update” to get the latest update.

Making a Game

First you have to make a game. For this test we’re mostly interested in your experience of making a “Whatever you want!” game for a “Vacation”. Put in your destination (it could even be two destinations) and answer a few questions.

Silly? There are three levels of silly. Explorer (mostly serious), Goofball (mostly silly), Spotter (a mix). It’s all very special math that decides what things to suggest, and not the science kind of math. Everything should be fun to find, but you might want to try making different games until you find the balance you like.

The size of the game matters. The more people the more things there are to find. There will always be some overlap (some finds might be on EVERYONE’S board. Some finds might JUST be on YOURS. Picking the right size of the game is important to get the balance right.

How you win is up to you. 1 Tingo or 2 Tingos is our suggestion. 2 Tingos sounds the most fun to me, but finding just the right balance for the time you have and the the number of people playing is something we’re trying to test.

If the game “Times Out” while you’re trying to build a game then try again. It’s doing some heavy thinking sometimes. We’re working to make it faster, but sometimes it takes too long and your phone gives up. If that happens just try again.

Finds!

This is the most important part of the game! What are y’all gonna find?

The silliness level you chose earlier will influence the kind of finds that are suggested. The number of finds you have to have is determined by how many people are playing.

Go through the list that was suggested. Some of them will be great things to look for! Some of them will be terrible. This part is hard! And we’re working on it. Delete any find that looks dumb, too hard to find, impossible to find, too easy to find, or because you simply don’t want to find it. Come up with your own ideas and just type them in! Or magically generate some more to get you up to the minimum number of finds to play your game. Keep deleting and generating until you’re satisfied with your list.

Once you continue the list for this game is locked in. (Of course feel free to just start the game and end it if you don’t like where it’s going. Too Goofy? Misspelled Muami? Try again.)

Invite your friends!

Anyone (who already has Tingo installed) can scan that QR code, or click on the message that you share. They will be invited to join your game. Make sure that everybody who wants to play joins BEFORE you Start the Game. Once they join they will have their own unique Tingo board.

If you don’t like the game and just want to trash it and start over instead of inviting anybody then you can just Start Game, then End It (by going to the “people” icon in the top right and clicking “End Game”.

Once everybody has joined the game you want to play click ‘Start Game’ to begin!

Find it!

Now just keep your eyes open! Look at the world around you for the things on your board. When you find something mark it! Remember if ANYBODY finds it EVERYBODY gets it! It doesn’t matter who finds it. If you have five things in a row, column or diagonal you just got a Tingo!

This, we believe, is the part of the game that matters. It’s the part that ISN’T on the phone. If everybody is just a LITTLE more aware of the things around us, always on the lookout for those interesting little things that they need to get a Tingo, then their days are a little more interesting.

Games are fun. I like to say “I’m winning because I’m playing” when I play any game. We really believe that this is the kind of game that everybody wins when you play.

Of course… WINNING winning is pretty fun too.

Feedback

We’ve built this game four times now. I think this is the one that’s going to work out. There are still bugs we know about and bugs we don’t. Anything that makes the game un-play-able we want to know about right away! If I can fix it I’ll push an update right away!

Otherwise, tell us whenever it’s convenient for you. You can email stuff to hello@letstingo.com or if we’re cool like that just send me a text! You can even just drop a note right here on this page if that’s easiest. Screenshots are great if it helps, but just a few words at the end would be hugely helpful!

We hope that this game enhances your vacation! But we know that YOU are doing US a favor and we’re grateful!

Thank you!