Like in Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3 has a 2-player competitive mode called Bingo Battle. The overall rules have changed, but many of the same concepts return. Player 1 controls a cyan team of Koppaites on the left side of the screen, while player 2 controls a pink team of Hocotatians on the right side. The game mode gets its name because of the bingo card both players have, which they can fill up by bringing the items on the square back to the Onion. Scoring a bingo is one of the ways to win.
Players can take control of Pikmin of any type (up to two types), but only within their team. The only way to distinguish which Pikmin belong to which team is with the top of their stems: their leaf, bud or flower will be cyan when they belong to player 1's team, and pink for player 2's. Players start with a certain type of Pikmin – the same for both teams, but it is possible to find more Pikmin of their team buried in the wild. Plucking them increases the actual Pikmin count for the team, meaning that if the Pikmin are not plucked, they count as not belonging to the player in the first place.
Each player has an Onion, to which Pikmin can carry their spoils. Upon delivery, new Pikmin are created, and the Onion follows the same rules as it would in Story mode, except the maximum on-field limit for each player is 50 Pikmin instead. Seeing as leaders cannot access the Onion's management menu, the Onion is in charge of automatically spitting out Pikmin seeds whenever there is space for them in the field. Pikmin that die to opposing Pikmin attacks simply respawn at the Onion.
There are some special collectibles scattered around the stage, which have different effects when recovered. Leaders cannot damage each other or opposing Pikmin with punches, not even if enemies are around to enable punching. Enemy Pikmin can however attack opposing leaders and their army. If a leader has Pikmin latched on, the player can shake them off by repeatedly spinning 
/ 
/ . Like in Pikmin 2, leaders that are being attacked by Pikmin cannot do anything but move about and shake them off, but unlike in Pikmin 2, leaders can be downed from Pikmin attacks, although it does take a while.
The Wii U GamePad provides a map of the area, and Off-TV Play cannot be enabled. The map shows the location of fruits, enemies, Cupid's Grenades, leaders and Pikmin. The color of the Pikmin's dots represent the Pikmin type, not the team.
Ways to win
There are four ways to become victorious:
- Score a bingo: By completing a row, column, or diagonal line of four items on their bingo card, the player automatically wins.
- Stealing the Victory Macaroon: By enabling the Victory Macaroon mode, players can steal this object from their opponent's base and deliver it to their Onion to win. Similar to stealing an opponent's marble from 2-Player Battle.
- Causing a Pikmin extinction: If the player's entire population of Pikmin perishes, the opposing player wins. This cannot happen with an inter-Pikmin battle.
- Leader down: If a leader loses all of their health, the other player's team wins, even if there is another living leader on the team.
Maps
There are 12 stages to choose from in Bingo Battle. When the stage is selected, one of three different layouts is randomly picked. Players only have the first stage available at the start of the saved game, but each time a battle is finished, the next level in the list is unlocked.
Options
Before starting, players must choose their control method. Players can choose any of the control schemes they could in Story mode, although only one player can use one controller. It is possible to re-establish the control types for each player by choosing the icon on the lower-right corner of the screen, but it is not possible to change controls mid-battle – the exception to this is toggling Stylus mode on the GamePad via the pause menu.
Before the battle starts, players can also set the following match options:
- Victory Macaroon: Setting this to on will make each team start with their Victory Macaroon near their Onion. The default value is off. Victory Macaroons will not appear if this is turned off.
- Battle Type: Allows players to choose the number of starting leaders: one or two. The default value is 1 vs 1. Every other time this option is set to on, the secondary leader on player 1's team toggles between Brittany and Charlie.
- Number of Pikmin: Allows players to choose the starting number of Pikmin (excluding those buried), for each team individually, in increments of five. If the chosen number of starting Pikmin plus the number of Pikmin buried in the wild exceeds 50, the number of starting Pikmin will be decreased accordingly. The option to start with 1 Pikmin is also available. The maximum amount is 50, and the default value is 5 for each team.
Bingo card
Each player starts with a 4 × 4 bingo card, that is randomly generated when the match starts. The card is filled with items that can be recovered in the current stage – fruits, enemies and marbles. Every time an item is recovered, that square becomes highlighted. By highlighting four squares in the same row, column, or diagonal line, the player wins. When a line is one item away from being cleared, a dotted line appears on the HUD. This can happen for more than one line at once.
Any item that is held inside an enemy appears as a question mark, and is only transformed into its correct drawing once the unknown enemy that held it is defeated. If an item has already been recovered by the opponent, a no symbol appears on top of it.
Collectibles
Certain special collectibles appear on the stage.
Victory Macaroon
The Victory Macaroon is a macaron with a team-colored flag on top. Each one starts near its team's Onion, and is available for capture by the enemy's Pikmin. If the opponent delivers the macaroon to their own Onion, they are declared the victor. A player's Pikmin can carry their own macaroon back to their base, but because it cannot be delivered to the Onion, the Pikmin carrying it behave oddly – they alternate between celebrating a successful delivery and re-grabbing it, until they eventually settle down and leave the macaroon alone. The Victory Macaroons will only appear if the corresponding option is enabled.
Cupid's Grenade
- Main article: Cupid's Grenade.
Cupid's Grenades randomly spawn about the stage, and delivering one to an Onion grants the player with an item spin on their roulette wheel. More than one spin can be queued, and the number of spins available is presented on the HUD. Up to five spins may be in queue, and after an item is used, the next spin in the queue instantly takes place. Cupid's Grenades stop spawning after Lucky Marbles begin doing so.
Golden Grenade
- Main article: Golden Grenade.
Golden Grenades resemble Cupid's Grenades, but are completely golden. When one is delivered to an Onion, the corresponding player's roulette wheel spin queue is filled. As such, it is more efficient to first use the spins in queue before recovering a Golden Grenade.
Lucky Marble
A Lucky Marble is a golden marble, that resembles The President of Hocotate Freight. Upon being delivered, it fills up a random unfilled space on the player's bingo card. If the player is one away before this powerup is activated, the screen will spread over to show that player's screen more, since there is a possibility that the Lucky Marble can fill the last slot needed.
Lucky Marbles only begin appearing after the match has gone on for eight minutes. At this point, Cupid's Grenades stop spawning, and the music changes to a calmer mood.
Items
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To do: Confirm if it's possible for Warp to send opponents to bad places, like for instance, a pool of water. |
A player can get items by carrying cherries back to their Onion. If a Golden Grenade is obtained, the player gets five items in storage. To use the items, the player must press Paddown / Paddown / PCPaddown, or tap the item icon if on Stylus mode. These are the possible items:
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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+10 Pikmin | Makes the user's Onion generate ten of the player's starting Pikmin. |
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+5 Rare Pikmin | Makes the user's Onion spawn five of the type of Pikmin the player did not start with. This item is not available on maps that only have one type of Pikmin. |
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Lightning | Strikes opponents and their nearby non-Yellow Pikmin with an immobilizing current of lightning. Like all electric hazards in this game, it simply immobilizes them, and proves no direct harm to the Pikmin. |
| File:Bingo Battle Lucky Marble icon.png | Lucky Marble | Acts the same as if collecting a Lucky Marble. |
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Rock Storm | Causes four large boulders to fall near where the opponent's leader is standing, killing any non-Rock Pikmin. It's harder to dodge these boulders than their Pikmin 2 counterparts. A leader can escape intact if they are always moving throughout the storm. If the player knows that the strike is incoming, they can dismiss their Pikmin to minimize the death toll. |
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Ultra-Spicy Spray | Instantly makes the player's Pikmin gain the effects of an Ultra-Spicy Spray. |
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Enemy Annihilator | Kills all on-screen enemies. Mini-boss enemies will not be hurt. |
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Bomb | Causes a Bomb Rock to spawn in front of the player's leader. |
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Shuffle | Scrambles the opponent's bingo card. The items will never be shuffled in a way that triggers a victory. |
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Mine | Spawns a mine in front of the active leader. Pikmin can carry these, just like Bomb Rocks. When the Pikmin is thrown, the mine sticks to wherever the Pikmin hits, and will only detonate when a captain walks by. |
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Warp | Teleports the opponent to a random area on the map, along with any Pikmin under their control. |
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Macaroon Recovery | Transports the player's macaroon back to their Onion, even if it is already nearby. This item is only available when playing with the "Victory Macaroon" option on. |
Using items
Just as always, there is a proper time and way to use all items.
/ : These items are best used if the Pikmin count isn't at the maximum of 50. It is also used well after losing Pikmin to an enemy. Note that if the Pikmin count is at 50, the item will not spawn any more Pikmin, as it is impossible to access the Onion menu in Bingo Battle.
: Use the lightning when the leader has a large group of Pikmin with them. It is best used when the leader is fighting an enemy.
: This is also best used when the leader is with a large group of Pikmin. Try not to use it if your opponent is near an enemy, as the rocks will destroy the enemy.
: Best used before fighting a miniboss. It is also good to use it before fighting your opponent's Pikmin. Also good to use if any Pikmin are not flowered yet.
: Use this with as many enemies on screen as possible. If there is just one enemy left to win, find it and then use the powerup.
: Best to use whenever necessary. As always, use it to destroy enemies. Alternatively, try using it on any of your opponent's Pikmin trying to carry back an object.
: The Shuffle should be used when your opponent is close to a victory.
: This is essentially just another bomb rock. You can use it on enemies and obstacles, but it should be put onto an object that your opponent needs to win. Therefore, when they try to get it, they will lose Pikmin. Placing it near the Onion is also good. Try to keep it out of view as well, so the leader won't notice it at first.
Avoiding Items
These are defensive strategies if any items are used against you.
: Disband your Pikmin, or, if they are carrying an object, move away from them.
: The same strategy as the lightning applies here. If possible, go near some enemies, as the rocks can potentially kill them.
: Try to use this to your advantage and carry back any enemies affected by this.
: There is no real way to avoid this. However, by having many items on the board, it is possible that it will still result in you being one away.
/ : Make sure you listen for the bomb detonating if it is out of view.
Gallery
- ZlCfzSFv 48UADxBRF.jpg
The stage select screen in Bingo Battle.
The blue team is one item away from winning.
The Enemy Annihilator item being used to instantly take care of a Yellow Wollywog.
- Screen shot 2013-07-26 at 3.11.18 PM.png
Alph stealing Olimar's victory macaroon.
- Rockypoint.PNG
The blue team activating the Rock Storm item.
One of the possible control schemes in Bingo Battle.
Trivia
- Bingo Battle and Mission Mode are the only modes in which the player can find White and Purple Pikmin in Pikmin 3.
- When the Koppaite team carries its last item back to the Onion, the Pikmin appear to chant "KOP-pai, KOP-pai". When the Hococtatian team does this, the Pikmin chant "Hocotate", or "hoc-TETE, hoc-TETE."