City Bingo Review

In the crammed, hectic world of bingo sites, the smart cash is on trying to make one a substantially different experience to all the others.

City Bingo is, by all accounts, a confused place that seems to rely heavily on our ability to recall TV shows of the past. If it were us designing a website called City Bingo, we’d probably have opted to focus more on the universal realities of living in a city – great food, fantastic culture, crammed public transport, traffic jams, those random things you only see in a place that has enough people for each individual to successfully lose themselves in the thick of things, even for just a pre-determined amount of time.

Instead, the artists responsible for this one have opted for a cat. Granted, he’s a pretty cheery looking cat, and we really do like cats, but there’s a lot to be said about being clear and consistent. At the top of the screen you will see the City Bingo logo, and next to that there is the first sighting of this feline friend.

He appears to be wearing a kind of traditional Japanese outfit, and quite what the relevance of that is well beyond the comprehension of this humble scribe other than on little reference to ‘Bingo In Hong Kong’. Perhaps best not to ask why.

Top Cat

One thing that is clear, however, is that there’s some inspiration here from the TV series Top Cat, which would be fine if the majority of people in the world actually remembered the series, the problem being that- aside from a much criticised and then subsequently despised appearance in the advert for one of the least credible banks in the United Kingdom, most of us haven’t seen or heard from TC in ages.

As such why on Earth would we respond to a fake version, just different enough to avoid copyright infringement, that comes along after the real character has already sold his soul worse than Iggy Pop did?

Rant over

It’s easy to get pretty carried away when reviewing these bingo websites when they look pretty uninspired or at least so all over the place, but let’s face it – you give as much of a crap about the design decisions as you do whether or not Top Cat will ever make a real comeback in pop culture. What matters are two things – does the website work OK, and does it have decent games?

On both counts the answer is a reassuring yes. First up, although we’re not too fond of City Bingo’s overall look and positioning, everything is definitely where it should be. The menus are easy to navigate, and all the information you could ask for is clearly presented. So within minutes of loading the screen up you already know that you will receive free bingo tickets on your first deposit.

We also know that there are various types of games to be played, from Jackpots to Slots and Super Slots. Don’t get too excited, these are much more limited in terms of options than you might find on a more full bodied online bingo website, but still you can’t knock the developers for at least attempting to make this a bit more interesting than your average bingo website.

Table Games, for example, only have two different types available, which is pretty poor by anyone’s standards, particularly someone who makes at least part of their living analysing the merits and (very slight) differences between two different online casino or bingo websites.

Welcome Offer: 18+ new players only. Minimum deposit £10. Maximum amount of tickets is fixed at 120. Tickets will be awarded to 4 specified rooms only, 30 tickets per room. Max 6 tickets per game. Winnings in real cash. Withdrawal policy applies. Full T&Cs apply

Keep Coming Back for More

As with the vast majority of web-based gambling houses, City Bingo goes to great lengths to make you come back for more, or perhaps even never leave in the first instance. Let’s look at these a little more in-depth as for some this is the part of the website that holds the most appeal- how to get the very most out of whatever investment you decide to put in.

The loyalty scheme on City Bingo is actually called the Diamond VIP Club. If you think that sounds classy then welcome to 1970s Brooklyn, because to us it sounds a bit more like a mediocre strip club located down a back alley, advertised to the street by a neon sign that no longer works properly- rather than a constant it’s an irritating blink.

Thankfully, not only does City Bingo smell better, there’s less chance of catching anything if you decide to go for the full specialist treatment. In fact, those who do go all the way, as it were, will find themselves eligible for some decent bonus prizes, deals and offers. Put simply, the more you play the more you stand to earn, with various ‘Classes’ of VIP- ranging from Blue through to Platinum- corresponding to a different total deposit amount on your part- hit these different amounts and you qualify for that class.

City Visit?

City Bingo eh? It promises so much, like a relocation to London or New York, and then when you finally get there and the honeymoon period begins to wear off the realisation dawns on you that actually you had it pretty good before, and perhaps made a pretty big mistake in ditching the last website you were a member of to pursue the dream of some greener grass. Or perhaps in this instance, greyer pavements.

In all seriousness, that may all sound a little harsh but let’s look at the facts fundamentally. There are literally countless bingo websites out there all vying for your trade. Each claims to offer something different, but those that actually do offer something genuinely different are pretty noticeable from the outset. After having written more online casino reviews than most would think is humanly possible you wouldn’t believe some of the offerings out there – full casinos dressed up as humble bingo sites, 3D slots, video poker with about 20 different variations.

Up against those City Bingo is only half finished. If it is only half finished in reality then that’s fair enough- as a work in progress there’s plenty of potential. Or at least the overall design isn’t completely nightmarish, in which case it automatically thrusts itself into the top 15% of all gambling websites.

When all is said and done, though, you have to ask yourself this one basic question – is there a reason why you would opt to play this over any other casino or bingo website out there? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘not really, no.’