Roomful Games › Bingo › Space Explorers
Space Bingo
Space Explorers is a free bingo game of 48 squares about space: the planets of our solar system, stars and galaxies, rockets and space stations, and the astronauts who travel there. Every square has a fun fact, so a round of bingo doubles as a science lesson.
How to play
With printed cards
- Print as many cards as you need (up to 30) and the caller sheet. Every card is different.
- The caller reads the squares from the caller sheet, one at a time, and ticks each one. Read the fun fact too, if you like.
- Players mark a square when it is called. Coins, cereal, buttons or a crayon all work. The star in the middle is free.
- The first player to fill a whole row, column or diagonal shouts "Bingo!" The caller checks that line against the ticks on the caller sheet.
Ways to win
- Any line: a full row, column or diagonal. Quick games of about ten minutes.
- Four corners: the four corner squares.
- Blackout: every square on the card. Longer games, good for a big group.
With a TV and phones
- Open this set on a TV or laptop and pick how to win and how fast to call.
- Players go to roomfulbingo.com/join on their phones (or scan the QR code) and type the four-letter room code. Each phone gets its own card.
- The TV calls each square with its fun fact (it can read them aloud, too). Players tap a square to mark it.
- When a card has a winning line, its BINGO button lights up. The game checks it against the calls and shows the winner on the TV.
Printed cards and phones can play together: when someone shouts "Bingo!" on paper, the host types the card number and the TV checks it. It works the same way as Roomful Trivia: no app and no accounts.
All 48 squares, with fun facts
- SunAbout 1.3 million Earths could fit inside the Sun.
- MercuryMercury is only a little bit bigger than Earth's Moon.
- VenusAfter our Moon, Venus is the brightest thing you can see in the night sky.
- EarthEarth is the only planet whose English name does not come from Greek or Roman myths.
- MarsOn Mars, the sky near the setting Sun glows blue, because fine dust helps blue light shine through.
- JupiterJupiter spins around once in just 9.9 hours, giving it the shortest day in our solar system.
- SaturnSaturn has a six-sided band of swirling winds around its north pole.
- UranusUranus was the first planet found with a telescope, and its discoverer first thought it was a comet or a star.
- NeptuneNeptune was the first planet found by using math to work out where it should be.
- PlutoPluto got its name from an 11-year-old girl, who suggested it to her grandfather.
- MoonThe Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth, getting about an inch (2.5 centimeters) farther away each year.
- AsteroidSome asteroids have their own tiny moons, and a few even have two.
- CometA comet can have two tails, one made of dust and one made of gas.
- Meteor ShowerA meteor shower happens when Earth passes through a dusty trail left behind by a comet.
- GalaxyThe Andromeda Galaxy is the farthest thing you can see in the night sky with just your eyes.
- Milky WayThe Milky Way is named after a glowing band of stars and gas clouds that stretches across a dark night sky.
- Black HoleIn 2019, scientists shared the first picture of a black hole, made with eight telescopes around the world.
- NebulaSome nebulae are called star nurseries, because new stars are forming inside them.
- ConstellationIn 1922, astronomers agreed on a list of 88 official constellations covering the whole sky.
- Big DipperTwo stars in the Big Dipper's handle sit so close together that spotting both is an old eyesight test.
- North StarThe North Star has not always been the North Star, and in about 13,000 years a star named Vega will take its place.
- SupernovaMuch of the iron in your body was made long ago in supernovas, the giant blasts of exploding stars.
- Solar EclipseThe Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon but also about 400 times farther away, so they look about the same size.
- ExoplanetSome planets around faraway stars travel around two stars at once instead of just one.
- RocketA rocket engine doesn't need air, because the rocket carries everything it needs with it.
- Space ShuttleThe space shuttle came back to Earth as a glider, using no engines to push it along.
- Space StationThe space station is bigger inside than a six-bedroom house, and it even has a gym and a big bay window.
- SatelliteSome satellites circle Earth once every 24 hours, keeping pace with Earth's spin so they stay over the same spot.
- Mars RoverOne small rover that landed on Mars in 1997 was only about the size of a microwave oven.
- TelescopeIn 1610, Galileo pointed his homemade telescope at Jupiter and found four moons circling it.
- Apollo 11The Apollo 11 astronauts brought home 47 pounds (21 kilograms) of Moon rock and soil for scientists to study.
- SputnikSputnik sent out a simple beep beep radio signal that scientists and radio fans around the world picked up.
- Voyager ProbesEach Voyager probe carries a golden record with hellos in 55 languages and sounds like surf, thunder and whales.
- Lunar ModuleThe lunar module had two parts, and the bottom part stayed behind on the Moon when the astronauts blasted off.
- Launch PadA water tower at one NASA launch pad holds enough water to fill 27 pools, and it can all pour out in under 30 seconds.
- Mission ControlMission Control in Houston has flight controllers on duty day and night, keeping watch over the space station.
- CountdownThe ten-second countdown before a rocket launch was first used in a movie made in 1929.
- AstronautThe word astronaut comes from Greek words that mean star sailor.
- SpacesuitA spacesuit is really a small spacecraft, and it even holds water for the astronaut to drink.
- MoonwalkFrom 1968 to 1972, 24 astronauts flew to the Moon, and 12 of them got to walk on it.
- SpacewalkAstronauts practice spacewalks underwater in a special swimming pool before they try them in space.
- Space FoodAstronauts make burritos and even peanut butter sandwiches with tortillas, which don't leave crumbs like bread.
- Zero GravityIn space, a candle flame burns as a round blue ball instead of a pointy teardrop shape.
- OrbitWithout gravity, a satellite would fly off into space, so gravity is what keeps it in its orbit.
- SunspotsSunspots look dark because they are cooler than the rest of the Sun, but they are still about 6,000°F (3,300°C).
- Light-YearA light-year is how far light travels in one year, which is about 6 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers).
- CraterWith no wind or flowing water to wear them down, craters on the Moon can last for billions of years.
- PlanetariumThe Adler Planetarium, which opened in 1930, was the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere.
Print the cards
Cards print two to a US Letter page, each with its own card number in the corner, plus a one-page caller sheet that lists the squares in a random calling order. Everything is made in your browser: nothing to sign up for, nothing sent anywhere.