Lotería cards

Lotería cards are the 54 picture cartas of a traditional Mexican game, sometimes called Mexican bingo.

Who lotería cards work for

Family parties. Illustrated tablas let kids who can't read yet play on their own. Every age plays at the same table.

Baby showers and weddings. A themed deck stands in for the usual party games. Swap the classic cartas for El Biberón at a shower, or Las Arras at a boda.

Spanish classes. Each carta names a noun with its article. Describe your deck in Spanish and the names come out in Spanish, like El Libro or La Mochila.

Christmas gatherings. El Tamal and La Nochebuena make a Navidad deck feel like the season.

When to play lotería

Lotería needs only cartas, tablas and beans, so it fits the gaps at a party. Play while the food cooks or in the last class before a holiday.

Run a round of lotería

Pick a cantor to shuffle the cartas and call them one at a time.

Decks you make here can add a verso to each carta, an original rhyming riddle. The cantor reads it before the name, and players guess. You can edit versos or leave them off.

Hand out markers before the first call. Beans or any small token work as markers.

The PDF prints the win rule: the first player to mark a full row, column or diagonal shouts ¡Lotería! Any pattern you announce works, such as four corners or a full tabla. Announce the pattern before the first carta, not halfway through.

The 54 cartas by number

1 El Gallo, 2 El Diablito, 3 La Dama, 4 El Catrín, 5 El Paraguas, 6 La Sirena, 7 La Escalera, 8 La Botella, 9 El Barril, 10 El Árbol, 11 El Melón, 12 El Valiente, 13 El Gorrito, 14 La Muerte, 15 La Pera, 16 La Bandera, 17 El Bandolón, 18 El Violoncello.

19 La Garza, 20 El Pájaro, 21 La Mano, 22 La Bota, 23 La Luna, 24 El Cotorro, 25 El Borracho, 26 La Manzana, 27 El Corazón, 28 La Sandía, 29 El Tambor, 30 El Camarón, 31 Las Jaras, 32 El Músico, 33 La Araña, 34 El Soldado, 35 La Estrella, 36 El Cazo.

37 El Mundo, 38 La Guitarra, 39 El Nopal, 40 El Alacrán, 41 La Rosa, 42 La Calavera, 43 La Campana, 44 El Cantarito, 45 El Venado, 46 El Sol, 47 La Corona, 48 La Chalupa, 49 El Pino, 50 El Pescado, 51 La Palma, 52 La Maceta, 53 El Arpa, 54 La Rana.

The list follows the traditional order. Two numbers differ from many printed decks. We replace El Negrito (26) and El Apache (38), which we read as stereotypes of people, with La Manzana and La Guitarra. Our pictures are original art, not copies of a printed deck.

Make your own lotería deck

Describe your deck in one sentence, and the lotería card generator drafts 54 cartas, each with an optional verso, in a list you can edit down to 20 or fill with the 54 above. Words-only decks print free, and the illustrated PDF comes in one of 5 picture styles (see pricing).