Another year, another bingo challenge! No need to reinvent the wheel, I’m copying everything from last year’s post by @bungakushoujo 
The 2026 Natively Bingo Reading Challenge
The reading bingo challenge is a fun activity for readers of all levels to participate in if they wish! Anyone can join if they would like to, with no pressure to compete!
Link to 2025 bingo thread for reference: 2025 Bingo Reading Challenge ✅
How It Works! 
We are currently voting on how we would all like to proceed:
- How do we choose next year’s prompts?
- Do we want an official 25 prompt list that everyone is encouraged (not obligated) to use? Or do we have a huge list of all nominated prompts that everyone can pick and choose from?
Vote here before Nov. 15th: 2025 Bingo Reading Challenge ✅ - #709 by monace
Past prompts for future reference, roughly organised by categories:
Genre / Plot / Adaptation
Read a book and consume an adaptation of it (e.g. a book and it’s film adaptation)
Read something with no other adaption
Plot involves revenge
Science fiction
Adventure-themed
The Lonely Genre - choose a book to be the sole representative of a genre, for example: must be the only romance book on your bingo card
Non-fiction
A genre you don’t usually read
Cataclysm - about some kind of disaster ( earthquake, fire, tsunami … )
Meta - A book about a book ( someone is writing a book, or searching for a special book, … )
Biography or memoir
Read something related to language in some way (other than being a language-learning textbook)
Fantasy
Something spicy
Historical fiction
Read something wholesome
Read something nostalgic
Fiction version of a non-fiction book
Natively-adjacent prompts
Past book club choice
Low interest book club nomination
Join/Participate in a Book Club
A Natively level you haven’t covered yet (i.e., it doesn’t have to be your hardest book yet, although that would count, it could be a level you skipped over)
A book that doesn’t have any ratings/gradings/reviews on Natively
Over 10 Reviews/Ratings - time to see what the hype is all about, can be tough to choose one if you’ve already read lots of popular titles
A book that you added to Natively
A higher Natively level than what you’ve read so far
Random book - go on Natively, pick your desired level range and book type, and just randomly select and read a book among the results (as long as you can get your hands on it)
Book from someone else’s bingo card
Author & Publishing
Book by a male author
Book by a female author
Legacy - Last work of an author that has passed away
Read a debut (an author’s first book, whether they’ve written more or not)
Read an author you’ve never read before
Book nominated for but failed to win an award
Book that has won an award
Read something from the free samples/something you can read for free (such as syosetsu, kakuyomu, tonarinoyj, etc)
Read the cheapest (but not free) book you own
Published most recently
Published earliest
Published the year you started learning your target language
Read a book or volume as soon as it comes out
Published the year you were born
Published >30 years ago
Published during or after 2020
Written before 1940
Untranslated (at least in a language you can read)
Book that has been translated from a language besides English
Audiobook
Setting & Characters
Has ghost(s)
Has cat(s)
Book about siblings
Book with a non-human protagonist
Protagonist has an animal sidekick/companion
Metamorphosis - one (or more) of the characters turn into an animal
Disability - One or more of the characters have some sort of disability ( blind, deaf, cannot walk, cannot speak, is missing a limb, … )
Aliens - Involves creatures or people from outer space
Book involving mythological/fantastical creatures
Book that contains not even a mention of a middle- or high-schooler
Elderly main character(s)
You share a hobby with the protagonist
Read a book where at least one character speaks a dialect
Setting is a workplace (any occupation is ok)
Set in a country that is not where the book’s language is spoken (ie, Japanese book set in Britain)
Set somewhere you have lived (or spent a lot of time)
Mostly set in a school
Takes place, at least partially, at a shrine / temple
Set at least 20 years in the past and not written during that time period (fiction or nonfiction is fair here!)
Set in the future
Set in the past
Set in a period that’s not modern
TBR / Bought / Recommendations
Book you bought the earliest
Latest book you bought
I forgot I bought this - similar to “why is this in my TBR?” a book that you forgot you owned
Book you keep hearing about but haven’t read yet
Book someone else thought you would like
Ask what to read next in the Seeking Recommendations Thread / What do I Read Next Megathread
Book chosen randomly by lucky draw or with a qualifier from the qualifier list (see below) from your TBR pile
Read something chosen by someone else for you (can be from the forum or IRL people in your life, maybe someone random working in a nearby café)
Read something suggested by the site you buy content from that you would normally ignore
Next book in a series you have started
2nd volume of a series
Finish a series (can be either one you are already reading or you can start a new one)
Easiest book in your pile
Hardest book in your pile
Book you planned to read in 2025 and either gave up on or replaced with another read for the 2025 bingo
Why is this in my TBR? - for titles in your TBR that you keep skipping over
Shortest title in your TBR
Longest book in TBR
Shortest book in TBR
Finish a book that you’d previously stopped reading
Lowest-leveled book on your TBR list
Book you hesitate to read the most
Title / Cover / etc
Book with the most colourful cover
Book with the simplest cover
Book with warm colours on the cover
Book with cool colours on the cover
Book with the darkest cover
Book with the lightest cover
(4-5 spots that will align to make a bingo) set up a a rainbow bingo on the board (cover is predominantly: red, yellow, blue, green, etc, pick 4-5 for each version of the board)
No humans on the cover
Book with a bad cover / book you bought or wanted to read despite the cover
Prettiest book you own
Cover is primarily composed of your favorite color
Shortest title
Longest title
Title includes a number
One-word title
One-character / one syllable title
Food-related title
Title that sounds curious to you
You learned something new from reading this (a bit harder to plan, as it can only be awarded in retrospect!)
Book about a topic you previously didn’t know about (politics, keigo, sports, etc.)
Going in Blind - no knowledge of the concept, only choosing it based on vibes
Read 1 vol. in a single day
Once we have the prompt list, you will be able to create your own unique bingo card at https://bingobaker.com (or using your favorite image editing tool) and play along, marking off a square with each book you read that matches a prompt.
Optional - when you create a bingo card at bingobaker, you will receive a unique serial number and link which you can add to the wiki post below this to bookmark it. This will be the card that you play with in 2025.
The Rules 
- You only need to fill 5 squares in a row to get a bingo, but you can fill more for additional bingos and a challenge.
- You will additionally have one “free space” that you can use to mark out any prompt you want, so use it wisely.
- If one book falls under two different prompts, it can only apply to one. So, make your best choice!
- If you are unsure whether or not something counts towards a prompt, feel free to use your own best judgment – the goal is to learn and have fun and you know how you do that best!
Difficulty Modifiers 
If you want to make it more challenging, or change the way you play, check out the modification list below! (Copied from 2024)
Modifiers
- Take on the bingo challenge with only one type of book (manga, LN, novel, etc.)
- Take on the bingo challenge reading only books from your backlog
- Take on the bingo challenge without reading any books from your backlog (RIP your backlog
) - If any of the books you read has a different media adaption, also consume that media adaption
- Read only books that no one else has (at the time) used for their challenge
- No books you fill out the challenge with can be the same level
- All books you read are either physical or digital; no mixing
- Each book title/author read must start with a different syllable (e.g.: can’t read two books whose titles start with か / 가 / ga… You get the idea.)
- Bingo entries must abide by shiritori rules
- Extra spicy: your final book title must end with ん
- Fill your bingo card with books from just one genre
- Don’t use your free space
- Finish your bingo with as few books as possible (one book counting for multiple spaces)
- Extra spicy: read a single book that qualifies for an entire bingo line
TBR Selection Qualifier List 
You can use the list below for the prompt “Read a book chosen randomly by lucky draw or with a qualifier from the qualifier list (see below) from your TBR pile”
(These are also included as regular prompts in the promt list).
Expand me!
- Read the book you bought the earliest
- Read the latest book you bought
- Read the book published most recently
- Read the book published earliest
- Read the book with the shortest title
- Read the book with the longest title
- Read the book with the most colourful cover
- Read the book with the simplest cover
- Read a book with warm colours on the cover
- Read a book with cool colours on the cover
- Read the book with the darkest cover
- Read the book with the lightest cover
-
- Read a book by a male author
- Read a book by a female author
- Read the next book in a series you have started (if applicable)
- Read a book that you don’t remember why you bought/what it’s about
- Read the longest book in your pile
- Read the shortest book in your pile
- Read the easiest book in your pile
- Read the hardest book in your pile
- Start the book you hesitate to read the most
Frequently Asked Questions 
Can we make a specific bingo card for beginners/manga/genre, etc?
This bingo board is meant to be general and for all levels so that anyone can participate. If there is an appetite for creating a beginner, intermediate, or advanced card or any other permutation, feel free to use any of the guidelines or suggestions/methods here for references and to organize! 
I see people talking about completing the card with as few books as possible, but I thought one book = one square?
The standard rules are that one book = one square, but there is a modification in the modification list to try and complete the card with as few books as possible.
I want to use one story/book/volume/whatever to complete a square, but I'm not sure if it counts.
You can feel free to use your best judgement, but if you aren’t sure you and want a second opinion, you can ask in the thread as well to hear what the community has to say.
