Just about every tabletop wargamer, board game player, and TCG collector has a massive backlog of things they want to with their hobby: new games to play, minis to paint, events to attend, friends and classic games to catch up with. It's great material for New Year's resolutions - and there's a simple way to change how you make your resolutions so you're far more likely to stick with them throughout the year. In one word - bingo.
My partner brought this idea into our friendship group, after finding it "somewhere on the internet, probably TikTok" - so I owe thanks to an unknown internet content creator for this idea. The premise is simple - instead of a list of big life changes you're going to follow for the whole year, you make up a five by five bingo grid with 25 things you want to achieve, ready to mark them off as you complete them.
25 sounds like a lot, particularly if you're used to massive life-changing resolutions like "I must fully paint my miniatures before I buy any more" or "I'm only going to buy new board games once I've played every game I own five times". Think smaller! If you have your heart set on one big life-changing resolution, split it into smaller pieces: instead of "clear my miniature backlog", pick 25 kits you want to build and paint from the pile; instead of "run a DnD campaign for a whole year", plot out 25 sessions' worth of adventures.
You might end up with exactly the same tasks, but it will feel really different. If you can't complete a resolution until the very end of the year, it's terrible for your motivation. The task is essentially "become a new person", and the moment you hit a set-back, it can feel as if you've failed and might as well give up. If you set yourself a lot of smaller goals you can tick off one at a time, you'll see the progress you're making - proof that you can do it.
Bingo resolutions are extra helpful if you've got loads of diverse interests. If you want to become a tournament MTG player, run a DnD game every week, and fully paint a new Warhammer 40k faction in the same year, you might not get all the way there - but you'll be able to mark off loads of resolutions from a bingo sheet.
And it wouldn't be bingo without prizes! Decide on some nice presents for yourself that you'll get if you can complete a horizontal line, vertical line, or diagonal. It's a bit of gamification that may just give you that little extra oomph you need to take on a resolution.
If you have the space to make up a giant bingo card, you can collage over it with ticket stubs and photos, to create a visual memento of all the things you've done throughout the year. The aim isn't to create a set of goals you can feel bad about for failing - it's to celebrate the things that you do achieve in the year to come.
If you'd like to join a welcoming hobby community who will cheer you on, you're more than welcome to join the Wargamer Discord community - it's free to join, regularly hosts competitions and live AMA sessions with game designers, and we have a new channel dedicated to hobby bingo. To receive a weekly roundup of Wargamer's best articles each week, subscribe to the Wargamer newsletter!