How To Play Slingo
Slingo combines elements of traditional bingo, slots and casino games.
Developers have released a growing number of Slingo games for online casinos as the popularity of the various titles continues to rise. Many of the games incorporate skill and decision-making, providing an unparalleled gaming experience that makes Slingo games far more than just the sum of their parts.
In other words, Slingo is more than just a combination of slot machines, bingo and table games, as the name suggests. It is the best of all three and more.
Slingo’s flagship games include Slingo Riches and Slingo Extreme. There’s also the multiplayer Slingo Boom and Slingo, based on popular shows like Slingo Deal Or No Deal and Slingo Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Where to play Slingo at online casinos
Slingo also offers unique gambling games, such as Wheely Wheely Big Win, Magic Mine and Pigasus, which take elements from roulette, Match 3 and free spins bonuses that you find on slots to create new gaming experiences altogether.
The Slingo game library cuts across platforms and twists through genres. You can play the games on your desktop computer, mobile or tablet devices. Every single one features crystal-clear visuals and lavish graphics.
Slingo games are a fresh and exciting alternative in the online gaming world and developers have only just begun to take Slingo where it’s ultimately going.
What is Slingo?
The Slingo library consists of more than a dozen games with separate themes and rules. Basically, Slingo is an online game that combines elements of slots and bingo.
A pair of New Jersey real estate developers created the game in 1994. They sold the Slingo brand and concept for $15.6 million in 2013, and it eventually landed in the hands of UK-based Gaming Realms.
How does Slingo work?
Basic Slingo gameplay involves players taking a set number of spins, each drawing five numbers below a bingo card. If players find the numbers on their cards, they are marked off.
Special items are also drawn, including wilds that allow you to mark off numbers either in the same row or anywhere on the board, free spins and coins that offer instant cash prizes.
Wins are based on a prescribed formula on the card and add up based on how many horizontal, vertical or diagonal Slingo lines you can mark on the card.
It’s essentially a personal bingo game with some aspects of slot play, including the fact that you spin it like a slot in an effort to put together as many bingo lines as you can.
10 of the most popular Slingo games
While there aren’t as many games in this category as there are slots, there are quite a few that have become staples over the years. Below is a list of the 10 most popular classic Slingo games.
1. Slingo Riches
Slingo Riches launched in April 2015 as the first-ever, real-money online Slingo game. It’s the game where slots meet bingo, mixing the best elements of both to create a simple-to-play yet highly engaging game.
You get 11 spins on the reel at the bottom of a 5×5 grid to match numbers and mark off horizontal, vertical or diagonal Slingo lines. The more Slingos you get, the bigger the cash prize you will win.
Jokers and Super Jokers are wild, and you can earn up to four free spins and instant cash prizes along the way. Just try to avoid the Devil, who can block potential matches on the reels.
2. Monopoly Slingo
Monopoly Slingo combines elements of bingo, slots and, of course, the classic board game to create something completely original.
Monopoly’s familiar features are mixed with the Slingo format, starting with a card made up of Monopoly properties instead of numbers.
No spins here as you roll the die to move around the board instead, and try to land on properties to mark them off. Complete a Slingo, get a cash prize and find multipliers to grow the rewards exponentially.
3. Slingo Carnival
Life is a Slingo Carnival, believe it or not. This Slingo game is jam-packed with bonus games galore. It’s traditional Slingo starting with a 5×5 grid and a goal to make as many Slingos as you can.
Slingo Carnival allows you to unlock up to seven bonus rounds where you’ll try to knock down bottles, pop balloons or jump on a wild carnival ride. Plus, there are unlimited free spins.
4. Slingo Cascade
Slingo Cascade is Slingo with a cascade mechanic on the slot reel and the 5×5 grid increasing the possible number of Slingos you can earn in each game.
The squares explode when a Slingo is completed, causing a cascade of new squares and more chances to win. Plus, matches explode in the reel, allowing a new number to spin in for more possible matches.
5. Deal or No Deal Slingo
The hugely popular game show enters the Slingo universe with this title. Just like the show, Deal or No Deal Slingo will have you selecting briefcases and deciding if it’s deal or no deal when the “banker’s offer” comes in.
Of course, you’ll also play traditional Slingo, spinning the slot reel and marking off more cases on the Slingo grid. It’s the best features of Slingo and Deal or No Deal all in one.
6. Slingo Extreme
The game Slingo Extreme takes traditional Slingo to the next level. It’s Slingo Riches with increased jackpots and faster gameplay. Slingo Extreme is the best of slots and bingo cranked up a notch.
7. Slingo Fortunes
Slingo goes East with the Slingo Fortunes title, an Asian-inspired Slingo game. It introduces a “pick me” mechanic to Slingo and replaces the traditional 5×5 grid with red envelopes. Match a number and the envelope will open to reveal and eliminate a prize.
Collect four Slingos to activate the fortunes offer you can take or keep spinning. After that, every Slingo is worth more. Make a deal or risk it all where you can also enjoy unlimited extra spins.
8. Slingo Reveal
Slingo Reveal is a unique twist on traditional Slingo using an instant win scratch card format. Mark off five numbers in a row to get a Slingo and you’ll be awarded a symbol with a prize amount attached. Collect a specific number of symbols to bag the prize.
9. Slingo Showdown
Slingo gets a Western makeover for Slingo Showdown, which combines traditional Slingo with poker hands and gunshots. Players shoot numbers off the 5×5 grid, and the Western soundtrack and sound effects complete the transformation.
10. Slingo XXXtreme
Slingo triples the ante with Slingo XXXtreme, a faster version of the traditional game featuring bigger jackpots and a host of special features.
You can even buy your way to unlimited free spins.
Free Slingo vs. real money
Unfortunately, you can’t play free Slingo games at US online casinos. Slingo is one of the few games requiring players to play with money. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t play Slingo games for free and earn real-money prizes.
Legal casinos offering Slingo usually provide some sort of no deposit bonus when you join. You can use these funds to play for real cash.
You can use our handy no-deposit bonus guide to see which US casinos offer free cash bonuses and use it to play Slingo for free.
Any winnings you accrue will be yours to keep.
Mobile Slingo apps
US online casinos offer apps that turn your mobile phone or tablet into an online casino available 24/7.
Of course, you’ll have to be in the state where that specific online casino is licensed. US online casinos use geolocation software to track your whereabouts and make sure that’s the case.
You can download most online casino apps to your iPhone or Android device. Do that and your mobile phone or tablet will feature a Slingo app you can play for real money any time you like.
Most apps feature a pretty decent selection of the same casino games you’ll find on the online casino websites and that includes the lightweight and simple-functioning Slingo games.
Look around and you’ll also find a decent selection of free-to-play Slingo apps for Android and Slingo apps for iPhones.
Slots and bingo, it’s no wonder Slingo is a hit
By combining elements of bingo and slots with popular themes and other games, Slingo has been growing in popularity since it first hit the market in the mid-1990s.
The Slingo game library has only grown since launch and now includes some of the most popular themes in casino gaming, making it the perfect fit for the US online casino market. The simple gameplay and less-than-bulky software also make Slingo the ideal game for the growing mobile casino market.
All in all, the variety of games and diverse gameplay make Slingo, in all its variants, a huge hit. It is no surprise considering it’s born out of two of the most popular games in US gambling history, slots and bingo.