Tic Tac Toe Bingo

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Provide a low-stakes structure for participants to greet several peers and learn their names.

Use it when: Use during gathering or transition times when attendees need to meet people across a room.

Skip it when: Skip when the group is already deeply acquainted or when the room is too crowded for safe, self-directed movement.

Group arrangement: Rotating pairs mingling across the room

Timing: Source indicates 5 to 15 minutes; 10 minutes fits 3 quick pairwise interactions.

Materials and tools

• One 3x3 Tic Tac Toe Bingo card per person
• One pen or pencil per person
• Shared digital whiteboard or slide template with 3x3 grids (for remote/hybrid)

Before participants arrive

1. Print and cut one card per participant.
2. Place cards and pens at participant seats or distribute them upon arrival.

Say this to open

Take your game card and a pen. You will pair up with someone you do not know well. In each pair, decide who plays X and who plays O, play one quick game of tic-tac-toe in one of your grids, and exchange a brief introduction before finding your next partner.

How to run it

1. Explain the rules and start mingling 2 minutes

   Distribute cards and pens. Explain that each card contains blank tic-tac-toe grids. For each round, find a partner. One person plays X, the other plays O. The winner initials the box, or both initial if it is a draw. Prompt participants to share their name and one neutral detail, such as what brought them here today.

2. Play rounds with multiple partners 6 minutes

   Call time every two minutes so participants switch partners. Participants circulate to complete up to three different grids with three different people. If someone prefers not to move, partners can approach their seat.

3. Debrief observations 2 minutes

   Reconvene the full room. Ask one or two participants to share a new name or detail they learned. Conclude the exercise on time.

Debrief questions

• What is one new name or interest you learned from a partner?
• How did having a structured game change how you initiated conversation?

Finished output: A completed game card recording initials and names from pairwise interactions.

Remote

In a video call, place participants into pairs in breakout rooms for 2 minutes per round. Provide a shared whiteboard or slide template with a 3x3 tic-tac-toe grid per breakout room. Repeat for 2 to 3 rotations.

Hybrid

In-person participants pair with in-person peers using paper cards. Remote participants pair in breakout rooms using a shared digital grid. Combine both groups for the final 2-minute debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may remain seated while partners rotate to them.
• Anyone may participate purely as a conversationalist or spectator without playing the game, or pass on sharing personal details.

If the session gets stuck

An odd number of participants leaves one person without a partner.

Form one group of three where two play while one keeps score, then rotate, or invite the extra person to partner with the facilitator.

Participants focus entirely on the game and do not talk.

Announce a specific brief prompt halfway through each round, such as asking what session they look forward to attending.

Terms used here

• Tic-Tac-Toe: A two-player game played on a 3x3 grid where players take turns marking spaces with an X or an O, seeking three in a row.