What Are the Most Exciting Bingo Games to Play with Friends?
Bingo with Friends – The humble game of bingo has come such a long way from those early days in bingo halls, where you would sit quietly and wait patiently to mark off the next number on your scorecard. The gameplay that made bingo so popular is still with us today, but there are now plenty of different variations and setups that will appeal to the different personalities of you and your friendship group.
In this guide, we’ll take you through some of the ways that bingo has developed over the years, from the most common online bingo variants to the unique twists on the game that you can only find here at 888ladies.com. Grab your bingo friends and get ready to learn about some of the most exciting bingo games around!
Bingo with friends – A brief guide to bingo
Bingo variations will always retain the same premise at their core: to win, you have to be the first to mark off a particular set of numbers and win the game. If you didn’t have those elements, you probably couldn’t call it bingo! There might be a different set of numbers in the game or different patterns required to win, but even the wildest variations will still have bingo at their heart.
Let’s start simple. The most natural way to alter the game of bingo is to change the number of balls in play. 75-ball bingo, 80-ball bingo, and 90-ball bingo are all common, with each of these versions placing its own spin on a bingo scorecard. However, other – usually newer – bingo variants introduce new features to the gameplay, such as integrating decks of cards or roulette wheels to change how the numbers are drawn.
Here’s our look at a modern twist on this classic game, followed by a guide to the version of bingo that you’re most likely to find in the UK. These variants take contrasting approaches to the game of bingo, but both bring plenty of excitement when you’re playing with your bingo friends.
Slingo
Slingo is perhaps the most innovative “spin” on bingo – and once you know what slingo is, you’ll appreciate our cheeky little pun in the first sentence!
Slingo combines the number-based action of bingo with a slot machine’s spinning reels: slot + bingo = slingo. It might seem like an unlikely combination, but one spin of the reels will be enough to convince you that this game is a genius creation.
It was invented back in the 1990s, but slingo has really taken off in recent years. How does slingo work? Players are given a 5×5 bingo card and 20 spins on the slot reels. Every time you spin, numbers will appear on those reels – just like in classic bingo, you’ll want to mark those numbers off on your card. However, the way to win is a bit different from conventional bingo.
Slingo is all about earning the highest score. The numbers on your card, plus the bonus symbols that land on the reels contribute to your overall total for that round. Get the biggest total and you’ll win the jackpot! A lot can change from spin to spin, particularly if there are multipliers in the game. It can become like a race between you and your friends – just hope that you’ve edged ahead by the time everyone’s used their 20 spins.
90-ball bingo
A 90-ball bingo card has three rows and nine columns, with 15 numbers shared out on your scorecard. Many people choose to purchase multiple cards – a set of six cards is known as a strip. Marking several cards in the same game is significantly easier when you’re playing online bingo compared to the offline version, as the computer makes sure you never miss a trick.
Part of the charm of 90-ball bingo is that there are more opportunities to win. In 75-ball bingo, it’s all about the first person to mark off a particular pattern on their squares. Once that pattern has been completed by someone, it’s game over.
In 90-ball bingo, however, you have three pathways to victory: be the first to complete one line, two lines, or the entire card.
While the jackpot will be the biggest for the player who seals the full house, the chance to win at different intervals makes the 90-ball bingo game compelling throughout for every single participant. One of your friends might be quick off the mark and win the first line, but you can easily come back and win on two lines or a full house!
More exciting fun bingo variations to play with friends
But there are more variations here at 888ladies.com that are perfectly suited to a group of friends sharing the bingo action together. The following games take everything that’s great about bingo, then spice up the action with little twists that are sure to keep you on your toes.
Flash Fives
Our Flash Fives game is based on one of the newest forms of bingo: 52-5 bingo. The 52 represents the deck of playing cards that replace the standard bingo balls, while the 5 represents the cards that form your ticket. The computerised caller draws cards from the deck. If one matches a card on your ticket, you cover it with a chip. The first player to cover all five cards on their ticket wins the game. Flash Fives delivers a style of bingo that you might have never seen before but we definitely recommend trying. Here, the gameplay moves at a quick pace that is sure to produce a few laughs when playing with your friends.
Bingo Roulette
If you love the speed and the novel design of Flash Fives, then Bingo Roulette is bound to be right up your street too. Bingo Roulette utilises the same 52-5 format, but this time the game is based on – you’ve guessed it – roulette rather than cards. Each spin of the roulette wheel produces a new number. If that’s one of the five on your ticket, then you’re in luck. We don’t normally associate the question ‘red or black?’ with bingo, but Bingo Roulette combines the game we all love with a Las Vegas atmosphere to wherever you and your friends choose to play. You could even host a Vegas-themed party to complement the Bingo Roulette action.
The great thing about online bingo is that it is you who decides what your experience will be. If you want to play in peaceful solitude, nobody can stop you. If you want to be a little excitable with your friends as the bingo action unfolds, then nobody can stop you there either!
