Playing Live Music Bingo with a Custom Mobile App (regroove.ca)

Regroove helps teams harness Microsoft Cloud technologies to run a more effective business through projects and coaching.

Challenge

The owner of Regroove Solutions, Sean Wallbridge, saw an opportunity to transform live performances and to connect people through fun competition.

Sean loves playing drums in front of a live audience in his band, Supersauce. The band is well known in the local Victoria music scene, playing dozens of venues including the Christmas Craft Beer Show, and Rockstar Nights live karaoke competitions.

This band experience drove Sean to partner with his friend and co-worker Matt Longpre. Matt brought his skills as a musician, designer, and developer to create the virtual bingo game app to bring people together in a unique way. The duo envisioned the bingo game as a fun, interactive experience that people had not seen before, backed by a live band. The app would provide a fully functioning bingo game for any pub, party, or social gathering so that people can play together while listening to their favourite music.

The project started as a way for Supersauce to power the live band edition of Rockstar Bingo. Yet it became clear that there was also a market for a game that could also exist as a standalone band-less experience. The appearance of Covid-19 during the project also made it clear that the app created a fun virtual space for friends to connect and have fun in a safe, socially distanced way.

At the project’s inception, the goal was to produce an app capable of hosting a bingo game that met the following requirements:

The game can be played with a music playlist or with a live band.
The game allows the hosts to create a game that connects to any Spotify playlist.
The game does not require players to install an app from an app store.
The game can restore a player’s game progress if they exit the game unexpectedly (i.e., internet disconnect).

We wanted a unique option to bring to bars for them to want to have us play there.
Sean Wallbridge, President, Regroove Solutions Inc.

Solution

Rockstar Bingo is now an audio-based bingo platform that everyone in the room can listen to and play from their mobile devices.

The host of a Rockstar Bingo game sets up a game by selecting the playlist to use. They have three options:

There are predefined playlists available that a host can use to start playing instantly.
The host can also link the game to use any premade Spotify playlist with 75 or more songs.
A set list of songs is available for band members to view if the game is combined with a live performance.

The host then invites players into the game by sending them a website link and a game code, visible on the game admin page.

The game admin page also holds the lobby where the host can admit invited players.

The host can see the bingo cards for all players once the game starts and monitor player progress throughout the game.

Players access the bingo game by navigating to a URL in an internet browser on their mobile device. They do not need to install an app to play. They enter the game by typing the code given to them by the host and a real or nickname to play with in the Join Game screen.

Players do not need to setup a user account with a password or email address to attend or organize a game.

User’s data is cached during the game so that even if their internet disconnects or their phone dies, they can rejoin and pick up right where they left off.

A short sample of a song is played aloud, and players mark their cards by tapping the card square that contains the song title if it is on their card. Once tapped, a square containing the correct title will turn blue so players can see their progress. Once they have a completed line on their card, a button below their card becomes clickable for them to “call Bingo” through the app.

The user can choose to call bingo at any time. On the game admin panel, the host can see if their call is a true bingo or if they have selected a game square by mistake. The host can choose to end the game or carry on.

Outcomes and Benefits

Rockstar Bingo enables organisations to spin up a customized bingo game without the time-consuming task of generating, printing, and distributing bingo cards by hand.

Rockstar Bingo is also a smart choice while social distancing because it allows people to play bingo without sharing paper bingo cards or ink dabbers. The host can check a bingo without having to physically get close to a player or touch their card.

Rockstar Bingo is easy to use and reliable. Player setup takes seconds since they do not need to install an app or setup a user account with a login and password to play

The option to use personalized playlists make the bingo games even more enjoyable. The app connects you with others with similar music tastes. You can also share your favourite songs with your peers.

Live Performances

The Rockstar Bingo app’s live performance option have already proven to be a wild success with Supersauce, even after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. They have been repeatedly asked to bring the game to local venues and now have a weekly Rockstar Nights live bingo gig at a local pub. Pub goers enjoy a drink and a game round while complying with government health and safety protocol.

Venue owners are excited to have a unique offering that keeps customers coming through their doors while many struggle to do so.

Even during Covid, we were doing better on a Thursday night at a bar then they would have on their Friday and Saturday nights.
Sean Wallbridge, President, Regroove Solutions Inc.

App Expansion

Interest in the app has expanded beyond music bingo games. The sheer potential number of uses it has as a connection platform during socially distanced times continues to grow.

Interest has been expressed in customizing the app to run using theatre plays rather than music, substituting songs with scenes or events that take place throughout the play. This would keep the audience interacting with the play. It also encourages remote viewers to buy their own ticket rather than to share amongst a group.

In another direction, Rockstar Bingo could also be customized as a training or new employee onboarding tool. For example, songs could be replaced with keywords or phrases that need to be learned, like a game of Jeopardy (RIP Alex Trebek).

The app continues to create a new way for Regroove to connect with clients creatively. The potential for Rockstar Bingo to transform grows as people continue to think of new uses for the app.

We leveraged the need to create connection, to provide entertainment, to create opportunity and we did it using our team and our people
Sean Wallbridge, President, Regroove Solutions Inc.