Slingo

The concept of Slingo has rapidly become an online casino craze, causing a real splash at bingo sites like 888Ladies. The state-of-the-art advancements to the world of iGaming, including the use of high-definition (HD) visuals and audio, mean that bingo-goers are much more passionate about seeking gameplay that’s as immersive as it is fun. Enter stage left, Slingo – a fascinating fusion of online bingo and online slot games.

Interested to know more about how a Slingo game works? Read on as we delve deeper into the roots of Slingo, how to win and what you can expect from Slingo games in the future.

Slingo History

The concept was derived back in the mid-1990s, when the iGaming industry was merely a twinkle in the eye of most of today’s iGaming operators. The game was developed by a man named Sal Falciglia, along with real estate developer, Dave Lyons. Mr Falciglia spent time in the basement of his home, masterminding a new-look form of slot and bingo gaming, inspired by a vintage 1950s slot machine.

Falciglia went to great lengths to try and devise a Slingo machine that would be played on a five-reel slot machine, with players also having a free bingo card in front of them. He numbered the reels one to 75, incorporating a gold star symbol that would represent the gold coin bonus, as well as a scatter symbol to trigger free spins. Falciglia has said himself that he pulled his prototype levers a million times to ensure that he had devised a slot game that could deliver a refreshing twist on conventional bingo.

It was a while before this concept truly took off, but now the iGaming industry has certainly brought it firmly into the mainstream. Back in 2013, RealNetworks purchased the rights for Slingo, before selling it on to British iGaming firm, Gaming Realms. Slingo has since become hugely popular across the UK, with sites like 888Ladies offering classic games and up to a dozen Slingo iterations for good measure.

In fact, Slingo isn’t just available on iGaming sites like 888Ladies, it’s also become a hugely popular game on social media and even scratchcard lotto tickets have started to design some of their games loosely around the Slingo concept. At 888Ladies, we’ve been hugely excited about embracing the Slingo revolution and with our Slingo titles like Slingo Riches and one of our newest games, Slingo Cascade, it’s now possible to win instant prizes worth between £20,000-£50,000 per game – taking Mr Falciglia’s brainchild to a whole new level!

Playing Slingo

If you’re entirely new to the concept of game, let us fill you in on how to play Slingo games and how you can win big.

First and foremost, you’ll receive a 5×5 bingo card, which will sit aside the slot reels. You’ll be given 20 spins of the reels to begin with. Each time you spin the reels, numbers will appear on the reels instead of slot symbols. You’ll have to cross off any matching numbers between the reels and your bingo card with each spin.

Aside from numbers on the reels, you’ll also find additional symbols such as Free Spin, The Joker, Super Joker and Gold Coin icons. In order to win at Slingo, you must rack up the highest possible points total for your bingo board. Let’s show you how the points system works in Slingo games:

In many cases Slingo is played in a multi-player environment, which gives the game a distinctly competitive edge. The winner of your Slingo game is the player that racks up the highest number of points by the end of their spins. You’ll obviously get a big windfall of points if you cover off all lines on your Slingo board within your 20 spins.

Some Slingo game variants will have bonus features and modifiers like Powerups and Multipliers that can be used to help you accumulate more points and even multiply the points total you have already accumulated.

The skill is to use these modifiers at the right time in order to maximise the number of points you can achieve by the end of your 20 spins.

The Future of the game

As most 888Ladies players will already know, our industry moves at a very fast pace when it comes to technological advancements. There’s also something afoot in terms of state-of-the-art improvements to your favourite bingo and video slot games. Slingo could certainly be one of the next in line to benefit from a revamp, creating a more engaging and immersive gaming environment.

The concept of virtual reality (VR) is something that’s hot on the lips of many within the world of iGaming at present. The ability to don a VR headset and transport yourself to a virtual gaming world in the thick of the action, without even having to leave the comfort of your own home.

VR Version

A VR version of the game could certainly be an option in the years to come, with the chance to throw in special effects as you watch the reels spin and mark your bingo card. VR slots are already rife, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that you could see VR Slingo reels that provide the most immersive gaming experience.

And that’s Slingo! It’s really a simple concept, but the marriage of these two already popular games has created something fans all agree has a dynamic draw.