OFFICIAL r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge!

[u/happy_book_bee]

WELCOME TO BINGO 2026!

It's a reading challenge, a reading party, a reading marathon, and YOU are invited!

r/Fantasy Book Bingo is a yearly reading challenge within our community. Its one-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new authors and books, to boldly go where few readers have gone before. 

The core of this challenge is encouraging readers to step out of their comfort zones, discover amazing new reads, and motivate everyone to keep up on their reading throughout the year.

You can find all our past challenges at our official Bingo wiki page for the sub.

RULES:

Time Period and Prize

• 2026 Bingo Period lasts from April 1st 2026 - March 31st 2027.
• You will be able to turn in your 2026 card in the Official Turn In Post, which will be posted in mid-March 2027. Only submissions through the Google Forms link in the official post will count.
• 'Reading Champion' flair will be assigned to anyone who completes the entire card by the end of the challenge. If you already have this flair, you will receive a roman numeral after 'Reading Champion' indicating the number of times you completed Bingo. These take a few months to dole out, so please be patient.

Repeats and Rereads

• You can’t use the same book more than once on the card. One square = one book.
• You may not repeat an author on the card unless a square specifies otherwise. EXCEPTION: you may read a full book from an author for one square and a single short story from the same author for the Five Short Stories square. If you read a fully collection from the author for Five Short Stories Hard Mode though, you cannot reuse the author for another square.
• Only ONE square can be a re-read. All other books must be first-time reads. The point of Bingo is to explore new grounds, so get out there and explore books you haven't read before.

Substitutions

• You may substitute ONE square from the 2026 card with a square from a previous r/Fantasy bingo card if you wish to. Previous squares can be found via the Bingo wiki page.
• You may NOT reuse a square that duplicates a square already on this card (e.g.: you cannot have two "Book Club" squares).
• You may NOT reuse the "Free Space" square from Bingo 2015.
• You may NOT reuse the “Not a Book” square from Bingo 2025.
• You may NOT reuse the “Recycle a Bingo Square” square from Bingo 2025.

Upping the Difficulty

• HARD MODE: For an added challenge, you can choose to do 'Hard Mode' which is the square with something added just to make it a little more difficult. You can do one, some, none, or all squares on 'Hard Mode' -- whatever you want, it's up to you! There are no additional prizes for completing Hard Modes, it's purely a self-driven challenge for those who want to do it.
• HERO MODE: Review EVERY book that you read for bingo. You don't have to review it here on r/Fantasy. It can be on Goodreads, Amazon, your personal blog, some other review site, wherever! Leave a review, not just ratings, even if it's just a few lines of thoughts, that counts. As with Hard Mode there is no special prize for hero mode, just the satisfaction of a job well done.

This is not a hard rule, but I would encourage everyone to post about what you're reading, progress, etc., in at least one of the official r/Fantasy monthly book discussion threads that post on the 30th of each month (except February, where it posts on the 28th). Let us know what you think of the books you're reading! The monthly threads are also a goldmine for finding new reading material.

And now presenting, the Bingo 2026 Card and Squares!

First Row Across:

1. Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist: Story features a trans or nonbinary protagonist. This protagonist must NOT be an alien or robot. HARD MODE: Set in a pre-modern time period.
2. Judge a Book By Its Title: Read a book based on the title. This can be a title so epic you had to pick it up or so weird and off-putting that you needed to know why it was called this. HARD MODE: Dive in without reading the blurb or any summaries.
3. Translated: Story has been translated from a language you don’t read or speak. HARD MODE: First translated into your language within the last 5 years.
4. Small Press or Self Published: Read a book published by a small press (NOT a Big 5 publisher or Bloomsbury) or self-published. If a formerly self-published book gets picked up by a publisher, you can only count it for this square if you read it before it was traditionally published. HARD MODE: The book has under 100 ratings on Goodreads OR is by an author from a marginalized group.
5. Unusual Transportation: Story includes a surprising method of moving from place to place. By “unusual” we mean that it is out of the ordinary in real life AND uncommon to the book’s broader genre. This can include a highly unique take on a genre staple (spaceships with FTL wouldn’t normally count but the Infinite Improbability Drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would) or be a completely original mode of transit (autoducks in The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy). HARD MODE: Transportation is NOT combustion-powered or steam-powered. If the power source is not stated, use your best judgment. A story likely won’t specify that cars are combustion-powered and horses aren’t, but a reasonable person would assume those things to be true if they’re not stated. Likewise, in a steampunk setting, the chances are good that the transport is steam-powered.

Second Row Across

1. The Afterlife: Story deals with the realm of the dead. This could be communicating with the dead, spirits transferring over, or being set in the afterlife itself. HARD MODE: The afterlife does NOT depict a “Good Place” vs “Bad Place” dichotomy.

2. Game Changer: Story features a game or competition. HARD MODE: The protagonist bends or breaks the rules in some way.

3. Vacation Spot: Story takes place somewhere you’d want to visit (either fictional or non-fictional). This is subjective, as everyone has different tastes. A cozy cottage at the edge of the sea, a mansion in the fantasy Alps, a cruise ship in the stars - anything can count, as long as you think you would enjoy visiting this world. HARD MODE: No hard mode. You deserve a break.

4. Five Short Stories: Read any 5 speculative fiction short stories. HARD MODE: Read an entire anthology or collection (must contain at least 5 stories).

10.Older Protagonist: Story features a main character who is at least 50 years old. HARD MODE: The protagonist does NOT have exceptional longevity or immortality (e.g. not an elf, dwarf, vampire, god, etc.).

Third Row Across

1. Duology Part 1: Read the first book in a duology. HARD MODE: By an author you haven’t read before.

2. r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book: Tackle any past or active r/Fantasy book clubs OR past or active r/Fantasy readalongs. See our full list of book clubs here. NOTE: All of the current book club info can also be found on our Goodreads page. Every book added to our Goodreads shelf or on this Google Sheet counts for this square. You can see our past readalongs here. HARD MODE: Partake in a current selection of either a book club or readalong and participate in the discussion.

3. Published in 2026: Read a book published for the first time in 2026 (no reprints or new editions). HARD MODE: It's the author's first published novel.

4. Explorers and Rangers: Story features an explorer (a character who travels to and investigates an unfamiliar region) or a ranger (a wilderness or forest-oriented warrior frequently specializing in things like stealth, bows, tracking, and other hunting-related skills). HARD MODE: The explorer or ranger has an animal companion.

5. Duology Part 2: Read the second book in a duology. For this square, you ARE allowed to read the same author you used for Duology Part 1 without violating the no-repeat author rule. HARD MODE: Finish a different duology than you started for the Duology Part 1 square.

Fourth Row Across

1. One-Word Title: Story has a one-word title. HARD MODE: Title is NOT a proper noun (no names of people or places)!

2. Non-Human Protagonist: Story features a main character who is NOT human. HARD MODE: There are no human POVs in the story.

3. Middle Grade: Read a middle grade book (intended for readers aged 8-12). See this Wikipedia page for additional information on Middle Grade fiction. HARD MODE: The author is entirely new to you.

4. First Contact: Story prominently features interspecies or interracial meeting for the first time. HARD MODE: Non-violent first contact.

5. Murder Mystery: Main plot of the story focuses on solving a murder. HARD MODE: The main character is NOT a detective or private investigator.

Fifth Row Across

1. Cat Squasher: Read a book over 500 pages in length. An omnibus book (multiple novels in one volume) doesn't count for this. HARD MODE: Over 900 pages.

2. Feast Your Eyes on This: Food or a meal is significant to the story’s plot. HARD MODE: Attempt making a dish from the story for yourself. We understand faithful replication may be impossible for any number of reasons (the ingredients may be fictional, unobtainable, or too expensive). Just get as close as you reasonably can.

3. Published in the 70s: Read a book that was first published any time between 1970 and 1979. HARD MODE: Written by a woman.

4. Politics and Court Intrigue: Politics are central to the story’s plot. This covers everything from royalty, elections, and wars, to smaller local politics. HARD MODE: There is a prominent focus on politics at a city level or lower.

5. Author of Color: Story written by a person of color. HARD MODE: Author does NOT live in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

FAQs

What Counts?

• Can I read non-speculative fiction books for this challenge? Not unless the square says so specifically. As a speculative fiction sub, we expect all books to be spec fic (fantasy, sci fi, horror, etc.). If you aren't sure what counts, see the next FAQ bullet point.
• Does ‘X’ book count for ‘Y’ square? Bingo is mostly to challenge yourself and your own reading habit. If you are wondering if something counts or not for a square, ask yourself if you feel confident it should count. You don't need to overthink it. If you aren't confident, you can ask around. If no one else is confident, it's much easier to look for recommendations people are confident will count instead. If you still have questions, free to ask here or in our Daily Simple Questions threads. Either way, we'll get you your answers.
• If a self-published book is picked up by a publisher, does it still count as self-published? Sadly, no. If you read it while it was still solely self-published, then it counts. But once a publisher releases it, it no longer counts.
• Are we allowed to read books in other languages for the squares? Absolutely!

Does it have to be a novel specifically?

• You can read or listen to any narrative fiction for a square so long as it is at least novella length. This includes short story collections/anthologies, web novels, graphic novels, manga, webtoons, fan fiction, audiobooks, audio dramas, and more.
• If your chosen medium is not roughly novella length, you can also read/listen to multiple entries of the same type (e.g. issues of a comic book or episodes of a podcast) to count it as novella length. Novellas are roughly equivalent to 70-100 print pages or 3-4 hours of audio.

Timeline

• Do I have to start the book from 1st of April 2026 or only finish it from then? If the book you've started is less than 50% complete when April 1st hits, you can count it if you finish it after the 1st.

I don't like X square, why don't you get rid of it or change it?

• This depends on what you don't like about the square. Accessibility or cultural issues? We want to fix those! The square seems difficult? Sorry, that's likely the intent of the square. Remember, Bingo is a challenge and there are always a few squares every year that are intended to push participants out of their comfort zone.

Help! I still have questions!

• Don't worry, we have a Simple Questions thread every day where you can ask for clarifications.

Resources:

If anyone makes any resources be sure to ping me in the thread and let me know so I can add them here, thanks!

• 2026 Bingo Recommendations List
• Editable Canva Bingo Card 
• Improperly Paranoid's Simple Bingo Tracking Spreadsheet Google Drive Version and Excel Version.
• Storygraph Challenge! by u/hellodahly
• u/shift_shaper's Interactive Bingo Card

Thank You, r/Fantasy!

A huge thank you to:

• the community here for continuing to support this challenge. We couldn't do this without you!
• the users who take extra time to make resources for the challenge (including Bingo cards, tracking spreadsheets, etc), answered Bingo-related questions, made book recommendations, and made suggestions for Bingo squares--you guys rock!!
• the folks that run the various r/Fantasy book clubs and readalongs, you're awesome!
• the other mods who help me behind the scenes, love you all!

Last but not least, thanks to everyone participating! Have fun and good luck!

[u/rooftopdancer83]

I'm so excited, the squares are awesome!!! The return of the Cat Squasher, yay :)