Bingo has been around as early as the 16th Century and remains as popular as ever today.
The game is believed to originated in Italy back in 1530 before spreading across Europe and ultimately, the globe. Its invention actually came off the back of the Italian lottery but now it’s a well-established game of its own.
Today, there are 1000s of different bingo games available, both in physical casinos and online. Advancements in technology, specifically computer and mobile devices, have helped the game grow a new audience this millennium.
With that, multiple versions of the original game have been produced, with different themes, winning requirements, prize amounts, etc.
The game has proven particularly popular with stay-at-home mums. So, with that in mind, here are five of the most popular bingo games in 2021:
- Me Time
The theme is set around a female being pampered so immediately resonates with its target audience. Me Time is a 75-ball bingo game, which is traditionally the US version of the game.
75 balls means that you’ll be playing with a card that contains 25 squares arranged in five vertical columns and five rows side-to-side. Each square contains a number between 1-75 with the exception of the middle one, which is usually a free space. Your free space can be used to complete a row and win the game.
There are several good bingo operators online where you can find this kind of games. We took a look on different offers and the one we like the most was the Wink bingo games, it offers a good user experience and a wide variety of games.
- Britain’s Got Talent Bingo
Based on one of the most popular television programmes in the United Kingdom, Britain’s Got Talent Bingo attracts players solely off the back of its name.
Britain’s Got Talent originally premiered in June 2007. Each year, contestants attempt to impress a panel of judges in order to progress through the rounds as the series goes on. When the stage gets to the live rounds, the public get to join in the vote for who they want to progress.
On average, the show attracts 9.9 million viewers on a Saturday night per series, on average. The live final in the third series (2009) attracted a record 19.2 million viewers, equivalent to 64.6% of the audience share at the time of its broadcast.
The bingo game has a maximum jackpot of £1,000 and tickets can be purchased for as little as 10p per game. The welcome bonus is a 100% match up to £100 for new players. Like Me Time, it’s a 75-ball bingo game.
Britain’s Got Talent Bingo is available at a number of online casinos.
- Deal or No Deal Bingo Game
Another bingo game based on a television show that has proven popular with stay-at-home mums is Deal or No Deal.
The game show ran from 2005 until 2016, hosted by the popular television presenter Noel Edmonds. Despite not being on TV anymore, the bingo version of the show remains popular to this day.
Each episode has a contestant choose a box from a choice of 22, each containing a cash sum between 1p and £250,000 and then attempting to win as high amount as possible by negotiating with “the Banker”.
This version is available in both 75-ball and 90-ball variants. 90-ball bingo is the traditional British version of the game. A typical card consists of 27 spaces, arranged in nine columns by three rows. Each row will consist of five numbers within the squares, with four blanks.
Your first column will consist of numbers from 1-9 or 10, the second 10-19 or 11-20 and so on up to 80 or 81-90.
The typical winning combinations for 90-ball bingo are:
- Four Corners – Crossing off all the numbers in the leftmost and rightmost corners at both the top and bottom of your card.
- Lines – Crossing out a horizontal line of numbers.
- Two Lines – Ticking off any two lines on the same card.
- Full House – Crossing out all 15 numbers on your card.
Your aim is to outwit the banker and score great bonuses to boost your winnings. There is both a desktop and mobile version of the game, so you can play Deal or No Deal Bingo from virtually anywhere, provided you have WiFi access.
- The High Life
The slogan for this game is “Live it, Love it, Play it” and comes with an aesthetically pleasing design. The Hollywood-esque lights and glamourous characters give the players a real important feel.
Dragonfish Software produced this game so it will come as no surprise to experienced players that it is a great play.
The High Life can be played from as little as 5p per spin, but often there is a £25 bonus for a £5 deposit when you play for the first time, depending on your provider. There are also free versions of the game available.
It comes with a fairly decent jackpot prize of a £100+ too. And to make life easy for you, you can pre-buy the entrance tickets.
Wink Bingo is one of a number of online casinos that currently offer The High Life.
- Rainbow Riches
Rainbow Riches started out as a slot machine, but gas branched out in recent years following its incredible popularity. They opened their online casino as recently as 2019.
Today, there is a Rainbow Riches Casino, Slingo, Poker and Bingo game with the same name, based on the same theme. That theme being an Irish leprechaun and just a green colour in general.
Gamesys Group are the developers of the series, one of the leading UK online casino operators.
Rainbow Riches bingo is a 40-ball game. It’s fast-paced and with two jackpots. One being a progressive jackpot which can be played from as little as 5p per ticket.
Given this is a smaller version of bingo that traditionally associated with the old game, players have just eight numbers on their card, which are grouped in clusters of four on a four-leaf clover. Your aim is to find the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow!
