Every Saturday night for the past month, Carlene Nex and Mike Sproule have taken on new roles as hosts of an online version of their favorite pub pastime, music bingo.
“We sort of missed it, and it sort of came to us, why can’t we just transform this pub game into something we do online?” Sproule told CHEK News.
The Victoria couple select their own music, then use a computer program to create bingo cards which are then distributed to everyone who joins the game. Nex and Sproule host the game via the online streaming website www.twitch.tv. Anyone can join the weekly game which takes place every Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.. What started out as a fun game mostly among friends and family, has since grown week to week.
“We do have a contingent that plays from Texas, Wyoming. We have a friend in Japan who logs in every once in a while, someone from Australia,” said Sproule.
Both Nex and Sproule’s motivation behind the game stems from needing an outlet to socialize and form community, while maintaining a safe physical distance.
“One of the best things I love about it is that you get these people talking with each other who don’t know each other and that’s the socializing we’re all missing. Every week it gets bigger and bigger, so we’re hoping for more and more players,” said Nex, an elementary school teacher.
Next and Sproule hope to be back in a real pub soon, but for now, their online version hits the right note.
“If people want it, we’ll do it. We love doing it, we have a lot of fun doing it, it’s like, sort of our Saturday night thing now. So we just may continue. Maybe no one will be playing, but we’ll just continue playing.”
To find out more info or to join Sproule and Nex’s online music bingo game, visit www.twitch.tv/casualcoo.
Kevin Charach
