> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://the-bingo-fi-a4951ed8.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Gameplay
> Board, draft phase, turn-based calling, winning, and how players get into a match
## Match flow at a glance
```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
subgraph Entry["Four ways in"]
QM["Quick Match"]
RB["Room Browser"]
CR["Create Room"]
VB["VS Bot"]
end
QM --> Room["Room fills (2-5 players)"]
RB --> Room
CR --> Room
VB --> Room
Room --> Draft["Draft phase
each player arranges their own 5x5 board"]
Draft -->|every player submits a valid board| Playing["Turn-based calling
players alternate calling numbers"]
Playing --> Mark["Called number marked
on every board"]
Mark -->|5 lines not yet complete| Playing
Mark -->|a player completes 5 lines| Win["Winner declared: B-I-N-G-O"]
```
## The board
Every player plays on their own **5×5 board** containing the numbers 1-25. Boards are per-player and private: an opponent's board layout is never shown to you, before or during the match.
## Draft phase
Before a match starts, every player arranges their own board during a **draft phase**: you place the numbers 1-25 into your 5×5 grid however you like (25 unique numbers, no duplicates). This is the first strategic decision of the match: your placement determines which lines are close to each other. The match only moves from `draft` to `playing` once **every** player has submitted a valid board.
## Turn-based calling
Numbers are not drawn by a random caller. Instead, **players take turns calling a number** themselves. Whichever number is called gets marked on *every* board in the match at once (subject to the Ghost Call skill exception, see [Skill System](/skill-system)). This is what separates TheBingoFi from classic bingo: on your turn, you have to weigh which number helps your own board against which number you should avoid calling because it helps an opponent close a line.
## Winning: 5 lines, B-I-N-G-O
A **line** is 5 marked numbers in a row: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The **winner is the first player to complete 5 lines**. Each completed line lights up one letter of B-I-N-G-O in order (1 line = B, 2 lines = B-I, ... 5 lines = B-I-N-G-O), so the win condition is visually legible as it happens.
## Players per room
A room supports **2 to 5 players**, set by whoever creates the room (target player count is configurable in that 2-5 range; a Quick Match room targets a specific size the same way).
## Match modes
No skills at all. This is the default mode and the mode used by Quick Match. Fully accessible to guest players with no wallet.
Skill loadouts are active. Requires the player to have linked a wallet to set a loadout (see [Skill System](/skill-system)). Players who don't set one simply play without skills, same as Casual.
The original game design (see `CONCEPT.md`) also describes a **Ranked** mode (loadout + skill-tier matchmaking) alongside Casual and Standard. Ranked is not implemented in the live server today: only Casual and Standard modes exist in the current room API.
## Getting into a match without waiting
TheBingoFi offers four ways to start playing, all designed so a player is never stuck waiting in an empty lobby:
Pick a target player count (2-5) and the server either joins you to a matching public quick-match room or creates a new one. These rooms are always Casual (no skill loadout) and **auto-start** the draft phase the instant the room fills, with no host action required.
Browse a live list of open public rooms (host nickname, players filled/target, mode) and join with one click. Private rooms never appear here, nor do rooms that have already moved past the lobby phase.
Manually create a room: choose target player count (2-5), mode (Casual/Standard), and whether it's public (shows up in the Room Browser) or private (code-only, shared manually). The host starts the draft phase once ready.
Play solo against a bot at **10 difficulty levels**: Level 1 calls numbers almost at random, Level 10 always calls the statistically optimal number. The bot only ever sees public information (its own board plus the numbers already called); it never has access to the human player's board, so it's fair by construction. A VS Bot match is always Casual, always private, and starts instantly with no lobby wait: the bot has already submitted its own board, so as soon as the human submits theirs, the match begins with the human going first.
### VS Bot as a progression ladder
Beating higher-level bots isn't just difficulty scaling: it's wired into the quest system as a **bot ladder**, with dedicated milestone quests for beating Bot Lv1, Lv3, Lv5, Lv7, and Lv10 (each rewarding XP and season points, with Lv10 also granting a cosmetic profile badge). Beating a higher-level bot automatically completes every lower milestone at once. Beating Lv5, for example, completes the Lv1, Lv3, and Lv5 quests simultaneously. This ladder is also the game's suggested onboarding path: new players are pointed at bot matches before jumping into multiplayer rooms.
## Winning rewards
Winning a match completes quests that reward **XP, season points, and non-tradeable cosmetic items**: never money, never a token (see [Solution](/solution) and [Economy & Business Model](/economy)). A dedicated match-win leaderboard is part of the original design (see [Social & Growth](/social-growth) for what's live today); the leaderboard that exists in the live server today is scoped to the Daily Challenge.