Forget mobile Scrabble games and spelling bee pub nights, the latest competitive classic to see an adult revival is bingo.

Bingo nights have been venturing inside pubs as of late, but they’re not necessarily your granny’s bingo game. Instead of simple numbers on a card, organisers are putting quirky images or answers that players must guess or identify with based on questions asked by the night’s host. Sometimes themes include music, television, politics or personal truth-or-dare type of revelations that players must share with fellow competitors in order to make a line and win.

These popular nights are not only retro in the game itself, but also in the concept of people connecting with a room full of strangers and friends in an age when most do a great deal of their socializing via computer.

Magazines and websites have even started putting out bingo cards based on current high rated television shows, where viewers can play along with the plot to mark boxes, like whenever a detective “runs real fast” or “breaks police brutality laws” on the new “Hawaii Five-O.”

The “bingo hall” is still around as well, but the concept has seen a revamp. Some bingo halls act more as lounges, where cocktails and appetizers are served, and people can mingle in a less-intimidating atmosphere than the average clubby singles scene.

And of course, like all classic games, there are loads of versions that can be played online and downloaded to your mobile phones. Whereas live bingo games have pots that rarely exceed £500, online games can earn players tens of thousands of pounds. To create that “real life” bingo feel, many sites are built with optimal graphics and chat capabilities, giving players a virtual sense of community.

With 3.2 million Britons new to online bingo last year, and millions more playing the game in some sort of fashion, it doesn’t look like the B-I-N-G-O trend will be ending any time soon.

The bingo phenomenon has no doubt swept the U.K., and now there’s been mention that bingo may soon hit American shores.

In December, U.S. Congress attempted to pass a bill that would legalise and regulate online gambling in the country. Though the bill did not go through, political experts say that it was just “testing the water,” and it may only be a matter of time that a better, more specific bill is drafted that will make online gambling, and hence online bingo, legal. Proponents of the bill suggest their biggest failure was that the bill was rushed through the Senate at the end of the year’s legislative session.

As major U.K. and European gambling companies agree with U.S.’s no gambling law, smaller, harder-to-track companies in different parts of the world aren’t necessarily as eager to comply. It is estimated that $5 billion exits the U.S. every year in offshore gambling, a market that U.K.- and European-based gambling companies would love to venture into and the American government would also love to regulate.

The inverse effect of the U.S. and the U.K.’s gambling relationship is that America’s current biggest gambling institution is prepared to try its hand at bingo in the U.K.

Harrah’s-owned Caesars Bingo is preparing a current launch sometime during the year. Although the internet bingo market is already crowded, Caesars is confident it will do well because of it name — Caesars Casino is one of the largest operations in Las Vegas and Harrah’s has casinos all over the world.

Meanwhile, major U.K.-based bingo sites are not too worried. While tons of new bingo sites started up last year, reputable ones that have proven their stamina remain strong. Plus demand for bingo is still growing strong, as hundreds, possibly thousands, of new bingo players continue to sign up every day.