One of the most interesting things about online bingo – as opposed to bingo at a bingo hall or the baby shower bingo and bullshit bingo games you play with your friends (from different social circles, we assume!) is the presence of chat games.

Bingo chat games are a unique aspect of online bingo and something that many people forget about when they are playing online. While you may not always be in the mood to join in with the friendly banter in the chat rooms, it is worth joining the room and paying some attention to the chat. A lot of the chat games are a good way to get free loyalty points, bonuses, and other rewards, simply for taking part in the chat.

If you are unsure about any acronyms you encounter in the chat rooms, it is worth either asking in the room, or reading the FAQ on the web site that you are using. You may recognise some of the acronyms from forums and web sites you frequent. Some of them may be familiar from ‘text speak’ too – such as ‘LOL’ for ‘laughing out loud’ and ‘TTFN’ for ‘Goodbye for now’. Some bingo specific ones include ‘WDW’ for ‘Well done winner’, and ‘GLA’ for ‘Good luck all’.

Some chat games are just luck based – the winner being a person who happens to have either just spoken in chat, or whose name appears above or below the person who won the bingo game. Other chat games are more tactical – some bingo on line sites have games where you play a text version of battleships against the community moderator, calling out numbers, and trying to ‘sink’ a ship they have hidden somewhere on the grid. There are also birthday chat games and games where you have to think of words, colours, or other guessing games.

Be sure to take advantage of these when you play bingo online. The games are fun, help to break the ice in the chat room, and give you the chance to earn more points and play more real bingo games – more plays for free is always good!