North America with a pencil, a grid and a bingo card

The 75-ball bingo card

Many people in North America know bingo as the 75-ball game. Its card has five columns labelled B, I, N, G and O, holding numbers 1 to 15, 16 to 30, 31 to 45, 46 to 60 and 61 to 75. This format was popularised in the United States from around 1930. A bingo maker can print 75-ball cards, or build cards from your own words.

Crosswords and sudoku

Arthur Wynne's "word-cross" appeared in the New York World on 21 December 1913, and it is usually called the first crossword. Solvers fill a grid from clues, and answers cross at shared letters. You can print a crossword for a quiet evening.

The modern sudoku puzzle is generally credited to Howard Garns, whose version appeared as "Number Place" in Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games in 1979. The Japanese publisher Nikoli gave it the name sudoku in 1984, and The Times in London began printing it in 2004. You can print a sudoku puzzle and keep the answer key for checking.

Battleship with pencil and paper

Battleship is often said to have been played with pencil and paper in the early twentieth century. Each player hides ships on a grid and calls out coordinates to find the other player's fleet. Two sheets of squared paper are enough, or you can print a battleship sheet.

Printing and playing with Paperoom

Paperoom is free and needs no account. Choose A4 or US Letter to match your printer, print at 100% scale with headers and footers off, and print one test sheet, especially for bingo, so you can check the numbers. Large print and black-ink-only options are available, and a PDF lets you print later or at a shop.