Bingo Hearts iPhone Review
Senior citizens will love Bingo Hearts, as it combines two of their biggest loves into a very accessible free-to-play video game: bingo, for starters, but also a slot machine. Kidding aside, players of all ages will have a great time with TiniDream Studios' casual effort, thanks to round-the-clock online play, the option to invite/play with friends via Facebook and the potential to win prizes. The Valentine's Day decorations are an added bonus.
Broken into its most basic components, this title plays like a typical game of bingo, where the computer-controlled announcer calls out numbers and you daub the correct numerals on one to two cards in the hope of scoring a B-I-N-G-O, whereupon which you win goodies.
That being the case, Bingo Hearts' developers put a cool video game spin on their creation with the addition of power-ups designed to give you an edge. We're talking the works, from the super rare Instant Bingo to Double Cells that automatically take up more spaces, thus increasing your odds to win. The rest tie into the freemium economy that is relatively easy to understand.
Here's how it works. Bingo Bucks allow you to purchase Bingo cards to play the game; you can't enjoy Bingo Hearts without this virtual currency. Gems, meanwhile, let you spin the slot machine to possibly earn coins, which help you buy power-ups. That's essentially the gist of it.
Initially, we expected TiniDream to take the low road and jack up prices to strong arm consumers into spending real-world dollars, but the company surprised us by generously paying out coins and gems while at the same time keeping the cost of bingo cards low. That is, unless you compete in special tournaments where the price to entry is significantly higher, but that is always your choice to make. Stick with standard games, where each card is two bucks, and you'll be able to play Bingo Hearts for quite a while. Not only that, but gaining experience allows you to level up, thus gaining more bucks; plus, daily rewards mean you'll always be able to play a game or two.
Even better, multiple people can win during a single round. In fact, the game routinely informs you how many folks are playing (at times over 60), and the number of possible B-I-N-G-Os remaining. This ratchets up the intensity and tempts you to fork over some gold coins for an instant power-up. Speaking of which, items are randomized to prevent rampant cheating, a nice touch.
Oddly enough, there's no full-screen iPad version, meaning you have to blow up the image. Also strange is a lack of an
Android port, which seems crazy, as Bingo Hearts would probably explode in popularity. For now, though, it's a cute, highly accessibly and downright fun bingo game anyone can enjoy.
What's Hot:
Multiple ways to win, real-time online multiplayer, numerous backgrounds, high-stakes tournaments, power-ups, generous with in-game currency, V-Day decorations, optional Facebook sign-in, optional slot machine mini-game.
What's Not:
No full-screen support for iPad, no Android version.
