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Slingo Boom, or boom bingo as it is also called, was an exotic variant of 75 ball bingo that was only available to play at sites powered by Gaming Realms until it was retired in early 2019. Other versions of Slingo (the ones that are more akin to a slot machine than to bingo) are more widely available and as well as Slingo itself there are Slingo themed slot games and Slingo themed scratchcards.
Slingo is certainly big on entertainment value! In a regular slot game you pay per spin and this can result in spending a lot of money extremely quickly. A game of Slingo lasts for several minutes and (depending on which version of Slingo you are playing) costs from just 10p – IF you stick to the initial set of spins plus any free spins you win. Extend the game by buying extra spins, though, and you can easily end up spending much more than your original stake. All versions of Slingo now have a safer gambling settings screen where you can set limits on the number of extra spins and/or the maximum price of extra spins before you start to play.
The UK goverment has confirmed that Slingo will be classed as a slot game for the purposes of the stake limits to be introduced in spring 2025, of £2 for players under 25 and £5 for everyone else, but we don’t know precisely how this will be implemented. It could be a mandatory limit on the price of an extra spin, or a limit on the stake for the entire game including all of the extra spins; either way, extra spins look likely to be force stopped after far fewer than the 40 currently allowed.
Probably the most popular Slingo games are those themed on well known slot games. This all kicked off with the release of Slingo Rainbow Riches in May 2018. Themed on the UK’s favourite slot machine, the game’s USP is that instead of fixed payouts based on how many Slingos (i.e. fully daubed rows, columns or diagonals) you complete, you win bonus rounds inspired by the slot game. The more Slingos, the better the bonus round you get to play. This added a whole new dimension of entertainment to the game as the results from playing the bonus rounds vary just as much as they do in the original game.
Slingo Centurion followed soon after, taking bonus rounds from the Centurion Maximus Winnus slot. Again, this proved very popular so it was only a matter of time before the much loved slot Fluffy Favourites got the Slingo treatment in October 2020.
A further release – and the most innovative to date – in this particular series of Slingo games landed in March 2021. Slingo Starburst puts the expanding wilds bonus feature from the Starburst slot into the base game rather than awarding it as a prize: the prizes are guaranteed win spins and the more Slingos you complete, the higher scoring the symbol that is used. The game also has lower variance than earlier Slingo games and this means that it is more entertaining to play for those who prefer not to buy extra spins as they are more likely to win something.
Several more slot game themed versions of Slingo followed including Slingone Fishin’ and Book of Slingo which were inspired by genres of slot game rather than being officially themed on an example of the genre. 2021 was rounded off by the release of Slingo Sweet Bonanza, in 2022 came Slingo Da Vinci Diamonds and Stinkin’ Rich Slingo and in 2023 we said hello to Slingo Cleopatra and Slingo Money Train. We expect even more slot themed Slingo games to be released in 2025.
Other Slingo games which have been released over the last couple of years have gone off piste in some very interesting ways.
- Slingo Cascade has exploding wins which means the board can never be cleared
- Slingo Advance is like a retro arcade game; you start with just one spin and have to collect matches to unlock more of the play area and further spins
- Slingo Lucky Streak gives you two lives instead of a set number of spins; lose them both (by not matching any numbers twice in a row) and it’s game over
- Slingo Fire & Ice features two side by side Slingo boards with the reels shared between them. The Ice side awards payouts and the Fire side awards multipliers
- Slingo Racing adds a pick your own variance side game
- In Slingo Deadliest Catch, you can collect bonus crabs to give you extra picks if you win a bonus round
With all these different varieties of Slingo there’s bound to be one you find enjoyable (you might want to avoid Slingo Reveal though as it has a substantially worse RTP than other Slingo games).
