Bingo Lockout (series)
| This article documents an unofficial Arknights event that is organized by members of the Arknights players' community. Please note that the event is neither part of the game itself nor officially endorsed by Hypergryph and Yostar. |
Bingo Lockout is an unofficial Arknights Global server-only tournament series organized by Lungmen Dragons, Global's largest hardcore gameplay community. Played in the game mode Integrated Strategies, Bingo Lockout is themed after the eponymous speedrun format where the objective is to claim more tiles than your opponent(s) by completing tasks written on tiles laid out on a 4x4 or 5x5 bingo board. Each task varies in difficulty, scope, and interpretation, serving as a test of a player's game knowledge, decision-making skills, reading comprehension, and luck. The "Lockout" part refers to the rule that once a tile is claimed by a player, their opponent(s) cannot claim it anymore.
The first Bingo Lockout was held on June 2023, and two more editions have been completed since then. The first two editions were played on Mizuki & Caerula Arbor (IS3), while the third, latest edition was played on Expeditioner's Joklumarkar (IS4). All tournaments were conducted inside Lungmen Dragons' official Discord server and the website Bingosync.
The "Bingo Lockout" concept has already existed prior to being adapted for Arknights, having been used in several games popular within the speedrun community, such as Minecraft and Elden Ring.
Rules
Lungmen Dragons' Bingo Lockout is exclusive to Global server accounts, and the only language that will be used there is English. Players living in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau — all of which have their own separate servers — are allowed to play, but they must communicate in English and use their very own Global server account (which means no borrowing or sharing other people's accounts).
Qualifiers
In the qualifying round, players must complete a successful Integrated Strategies run as fast as possible, then submit screenshots of the Result Screen of their winning run, alongside their In-Game Name and Account ID, to a Google Forms link published by Lungmen Dragons. The players are ranked based on the in-game time indicated on the Result Screen. This time is measured in real time, which includes the time spent outside combat like navigating Nodes, preparing Squads, and loading the levels.
The player must also fulfill additional conditions in a successful Integrated Strategies run:
- Beat a minimum number of Normal and Emergency Operations (denoted by ISW-NO). The number varies per tournament.
- Encounter-based Operations (ISW-SP), Operations involving Duck Lord, Gopnik, or Crying Thief (ISW-DU), or Boss Operations (ISW-DF) are NOT included in this total.
- Certain collectibles, operators, and/or squads are banned. The selection varies per tournament.
- On Bingo Lockout 1, the qualifiers quickly centralized around obtaining the collectible End of Times, which allowed a player to shave off minutes worth of time by intentionally leaking all Life Points to "skip" one difficult or lengthy operation. To avoid creating such a scenario again, Lungmen Dragons banned End of Times starting in Bingo Lockout 2.
- Fulfill at least 3 conditions forming a row, column, or diagonal in the qualifying round's 3x3 Bingo Board. There are 8 categories in total.
- Example conditions include "Beat at least 4 Emergencies", "Maximum of 7 Collectibles", and "Achieve Ending 2 or 3".
- Multiple categories may be achieved in a single run, but the player may only qualify in the fastest category.
At the end of qualifiers, a certain number of fastest players from each category will advance to the Main Event.
Main Event
Tournament format
Disclaimer: the wording used in this image does NOT necessarily reflect the actual boards used by Lungmen Dragons.
The main event pits all qualified players in a single-elimination bracket. Initial seeding is usually based on their clear time in the qualifiers.
All rounds are best-of-1, except the Grand Final which is best-of-3.
The top prizes consist of Arknights-themed merch from Yostar's online store, while players eliminated in the opening rounds will receive in-game Store items such as Monthly Headhunting Pack and Monthly Card.
Gameplay procedure
- Matches are conducted on the Lungmen Dragons Discord server, while the Bingo Board for each game is conducted inside a private room on Bingosync.
- All players are encouraged to talk and listen through Voice Chat, or at least be able to read and send text messages.
- Each match is presided by a referee (or referees) who will actually perform the act of shading the tiles on Bingosync. Thus, players cannot shade the tiles themselves; they must declare to the referee(s) through text or Voice Chat that they have completed a tile or are intending to complete a tile soon, so that the referee(s) may verify their claim.
- To claim a tile, a player must complete a specific objective written on it.
- Each tile claimed gives 1 points.
- Lockout: if a player claims a tile, their opponents cannot claim that tile anymore.
- Some tiles are specially labelled, like giving 2 or more points, automatically subtracting points, "stealable" (completing the objective overwrites their opponent's claim), only giving points when the time limit ends, and allowing a tile to be claimed by both players.
- In some editions, a player who manages to achieve a Bingo — claim an entire row, column, or diagonal — will award that player bonus points.
- The Bingo Board size is 4x4 for the opening rounds, and 5x5 for the quarter-finals and beyond.
- All games vary in length depending on the round and board size, but the usual is 25 minutes for 4x4 boards, and 45 minutes for 5x5.
- A winner is decided when a player scores a majority (>50% of all possible points in a given board), or have the most points when the time limit expires.
- If the game is still tied in points when time expires, it goes into sudden death overtime; the first player to claim any tile during this period instantly wins.
- Intentionally Abandoning and restarting a run is permitted. Depending on the situation, it may even be encouraged, or outright required.
- Investing or withdrawing Originium Ingots during a game is NOT allowed. If caught, the offender will be forced to Abandon their current run and start over.
- Some tournaments may require players to play in a minimum difficulty, and forbid the use of "Operation Rewards" at game start.
List of editions
| Name | Date | P# | Game Mode & Version | Winner(s) | Runner(s)-up | Bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bingo Lockout 1 | Jun ?? — Jun 18, 2023 | 32 | Mizuki & Caerula Arbor Release |
 wayhazel
|
 Fersangu
|
Challonge |
| Bingo Lockout 2 | Nov 12 — Nov 25, 2023 | 64 | Mizuki & Caerula Arbor Expansion I |
PHXYotes
|
 Larfa
|
Challonge |
| Bingo Lockout 3 | Mar 16 — Apr 18, 2024 | 16 (duo) |
Expeditioner's Joklumarkar Release |
Vienanmeri  toboruo
|
PHXYotes Ushio Ebi
|
Challonge |