ESL Games That Don't Suck, Part II:

12-card Asteroid Bingo (운석 빈고)
and
Nuke Bingo
(inspired from the old Atari games, Asteroid and Missile Command)

These are variations on the game bingo that utilize the English language cards
from the Korean English cards found in the national textbook's accompanying workbook,
which contains cut-out card pages in sets of 6, 12 and 18. You can choose whether to integrate pictures or just use words. I prefer to use the word cards only.

For all three games below, children set up their cards on their desks in the following array:

1, 2, 3, 4
5, 6, 7, 8
9, 10, 11, 12

(N.B. I just draw squares on the board and I do not indicate nor discuss numbers with the students. This number array is just an orientation guide for you, the teacher, because I can't get this blog site to draw a basic table. Typically I just motion with my hand to indicate the lines in the box set I've drawn on the board, in order to minimize explanation time. Also, going by experience I find explaining everything proves kind of useless. Just explaining one step and having them do it and then moving onto explaining the next step tends to get things done faster in my Korean public school classes.)

GAME 1 - Asteroid Bingo
In this game, cards 10 and 11 are your Earth city (지구 도시).

The Earth city can be struck by an asteroid (Bingo!) if the player gets the following
cards called, constituting a 'line' :
1,6,11
or
4,7,10

Likewise, the asteroid 'misses' the Earth city on the following lines:
1,5,9
4,8,12
2,7,12
3,6,9

But the Earth city has defenses! (방어 시설, or 방어 물)
so it 'blows up' asteroids coming on the following lines:

2,6,10
3,7,11

GAME 2

Same game, but any combination of two of the following lines is bingo
(the Earth city should have spent more money on defense!)
1,6,11
4,7,10
2,6,10
3,7,11

Again, I tend to use my hands to gesture all of the two-line possible combinations that can result in Bingo.

Nuke Bingo
You split the class in half, (teams 1 and 2) and designate 10 points to each team, on the board.

Again you have the children set up their cards on their desks in the following array:
1, 2, 3, 4
5, 6, 7, 8
9, 10, 11, 12

You call out the cards one at a time. If a child gets either of the following lines

9,6,3
12,7,2

they get Bingo! - which sends a 'nuke' from their team over to the other team. The students get very involved when I make the missile sound, the ballistic missile gesture with my hand, and the explosion into the other side and then see the opposite team's score get erased and replaced with a '9'.

Continue reading the cards - don't let them re-arrange their cards!

As you continue reading the cards, the rates of bingoes (i.e. the numbers of missiles)
will increase and the increments by which each team's score is subtracted will also increase,
from -1, to -2 or perhaps as much as -4 or more sent at any one time.
It's up to you how you want to play it, but I usually send missiles in the order of the first bingoes shouted out, which can change the outcome of the end game.

First team to reach zero loses and the remaining team is obviously the winner.
This usually ends with thunderous applause and enthusiastic response to the prospect of a second or third round.