Online Casual Gaming: Some Tips and Favorite Places
By Angie Kibiloski
Recently I have been questioned about the legitimacy of some of the online casual gaming sites and the ins and outs of using them. While I am not familiar with all of the sites out there, I wanted to devote a few paragraphs here to sharing some basic tips and a couple of my favorite and most trusted gaming sites. To specify, a casual gaming site is a place to go where you can play a quick card game, arcade game, round of bingo, etc., and it is not related to the Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) sites. MMORPG sites are different altogether and will not be covered here.
First off, how can you tell if a site is legitimate and not a scam? As a rule, if you are worried, always read the small print, which can usually be found in a section of the Web site entitled User Agreement or Rules and Policies. If you have to sign your life away or agree to purchase a magazine subscription in order to play, then I'd advise against signing up. For instance, I never click on banner ads that entice you to come and play their game with tag lines such as, "Shoot the Chicken and Win a Free TV." There is obviously always going to be a catch, and if nothing else, you have no idea what kind of SPAM you will trigger just by clicking.
Another place that you might find links to games is the home page of your service provider like MSN or AOL. If you trust your service provider, go ahead and trust their choices of links. Just be sure to read any User Agreement the game site might provide once you have been sent there. Some game sites are free; others you must pay for. That brings us to another point. Many game sites require you to become a member, but don't be afraid of signing up. It can mean something as simple as entering your name and address and creating a password for yourself and be absolutely free. Just pause if they ask for a credit card number, and be sure you have researched the gaming site and know what charges you will be putting on your card.
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One site that you must pay for the games on is Wild Tangent, at www.wildtangent.com. Setting up an account is free, but then you pay a fee for each game that you download to your hard drive to play. You can play the games online for a free trial period to decide whether you like them enough to buy. Also, you can purchase Wild Coins to deposit and play like an arcade and to continue playing a game after the trial run without having to purchase the entire download. This is a large and trusted company, so if you don't mind paying to play, they have a great selection of all sorts of downloads.
A really good free site is Slingo, at www.slingo.com. Here you create a user name and password for free and have access to their entire site online. There is also a section to buy a selection of downloads, but to play online games is absolutely free for as long as you want to play. They have games like Slingo Millennium, which is a combination of slots and bingo, Bingo Castle, Joker Poker, and Crazy 7's. There are card games, strategy and puzzle games, trivia, casino, and bingo. With each game you play you earn Slingo coins. You can enter these coins into daily, weekly, and monthly drawings of up to $1000! The more coins you earn, the more prize entries you can trade them in for. Within certain Bingo variations, you can win prize money by getting a Bingo. My mother won $250 playing Bingo at Slingo. I won an ELPH camera about 6 years ago at a site that unfortunately no longer exists. You can win too, but you can't win if you don't play, so go and sign up today.
My favorite site is called Pogo and can be found at www.pogo.com. This is another site that you can join for free. Much like Slingo, all you need to register with is your name and address. This opens up all of their free online games to you, like First Class Solitaire, Pogo Bowl, Word Whomp, Poppit, Tumble Bees, and Showbiz Slots-all free to play forever. Here, too, you earn points to enter into drawings similar to those on Slingo. You can also win an ever-progressing amount of money at the end of each game through the Jackpot Spin that you win when your round is completed. Other prizes in the Jackpot Spin are various amounts of points and sometimes merchandise. Pogo gives you the option of buying downloadable games as well. I love Pogo because of the variety of games. There is something there that will be suited to everyone, whether you like casino type games, card games, bingo, puzzle, strategy, arcade, etc. The site is also very user friendly, easy to navigate, has pleasing color schemes and cute characters.
If you would like even more games than the free membership provides, you can then upgrade to a paid membership, which gives you access to what is called Club Pogo. You can try Club Pogo for a two week trial and either cancel or pay at the end, depending on whether you liked it or not. I love it! With the paid Club membership you get at least twice the games to play. Some of my favorites are Tri Peaks Solitaire, where you must win hands of cards to move your little adventurer across the screen to the treasure. If you lose, you get to watch as some unfortunate yet hilarious fate befalls him. I also love Quick Quack, which is like shooting ducks at a carnival, and Lottso, where you have to fill scratch off cards with your lottery balls. Another added benefit from Club Pogo is that if you win the Jackpot during your Jackpot Spin, the amount of money is doubled! Prize drawings are not the only thing a Club Pogo member can spend their earned points on. There is something called a Pogo Mini, which is a little cartoon person that you create for your account.
It can be a representation of you or someone totally silly. To create them is free with the Club, but then you can spend your points on clothing, new hair styles, accessories, background pictures and animations in the Mini Mall. You can dress them up and change them out as much as you want. It is really very fun! Also, when a Club Pogo member plays the games, you earn Badges as you progress. A badge can be earned by gaining a certain rank or level of game play or by satisfying weekly or monthly game challenges. There are tons of badges to earn and add to your album and are just another added incentive to come to the site and play. The price for all of these extra features works out to about $3 a month. Remember though; the basic site is free to all, so come and play no matter what your preference.
There are many other game sites out there on the Net; you can discover many of them for yourself. Some are free and others require payment, but both types can be legitimate and fun. Just be sure to exercise caution by reading the fine print. Whether you try out my favorites or research some others, don't be afraid to have some fun and maybe win some money. Good luck!