Bingo has provided a popular pastime for the past 50 years, with millions of players on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. From its very early beginnings during mediaeval times, through the booming 60s heyday of big attendances at halls all across the land to the modern era of the online reboot – the game has continually evolved. It can certainly be called a classic game.
That evolution has maintained bingo’s popularity in the same way that classic retro arcade games like Tetris and Pacman have managed – becoming more suited to the modern technological and on-demand age just as they have. There’s a similar ‘pickup-and-play’ ease to bingo as there is with the aforementioned classic arcade games, which means it was ripe for developing into the new mobile gaming world. It involves chance, searching, reaching a goal, a time limit, playing against other people. All elements that are present in some of the best classic games.
But what has brought the popular game to where it is now? And where can it go next? Let’s look as we compare this classic game with those two other classics of retrogaming…
The Socialisers
Nowadays, players are looking for a sense of community at the tap of a screen. However, all the major sites offer this, so a common way to stand out is through online bingo promotions for new and existing players, such as free spins or deposit bonuses. In a world where everyone can get involved playing all kinds of games, from players with decades of offline experience to novice newbies, the effort companies put in to increase their demographic is huge.
The chat box facility on versions of online bingo makes for interaction not only on a technical support level but also on a social level with like-minded individuals and people you know. There could even be video chat technology coming to the fore in the future, which strengthens the inclusive social community aspect that online retro gaming with others can provide in the modern 21st-century era. And this is something that is constantly in development with all kinds of modern mobile takes on classic arcade games.
The Trendsetters
Titles such as Pac-Man and Tetris are considered staples in the retro gaming industry and have adapted and evolved to last the test of time. Whilst some arcade games have become lost to the rapid development of advanced video gaming technology – usurped by newer titles fit for new all-singing and all-dancing consoles – the ‘pickup and play’ nature of titles like these two has enamoured them to new generations of tech-savvy gamers.
Both have been able to successfully make the move to Android and iOS mobile devices and even have copies such as the aptly titled PacMan Reborn, Pac-Match Party for multiplayer gamers and even PacMan Geo which uses Google Maps to bring the game to real-life streets and locations.
Meanwhile, a downloadable Tetris app offers a whole array of block-building and block-bashing at your fingertips to have consigned the now old-fashioned ‘Snake’ mobile game from the 1990s well and truly to the annals of gaming history.
Bingo’s Longevity To Last
Although packed bingo halls have dramatically declined over the past two decades due to various socio-economic pressures, the game itself has not died – it lives on and still has a reputation as one of the most popular party games to play at home.
Now its presence online allows players to take part almost anytime and anywhere to achieve bingo greatness. Just as the likes of Pacman and Tetris went mobile, the ultimate classic retro game has followed suit.