We Want Bingo Review

Talk about putting money where your mouth is. Those behind We Want Bingo clearly know their audience- people who, quite literally, want bingo. All good then. When the homepage first loads up this couldn’t be more apparent. Having said that, anyone who has an objection to the connotations of ‘want’ will probably want to run a mile. People who ‘want’ lots of things are, by nature, very rarely satisfied, and often keen to step over others in a bid to satisfy their unquenchable want. This website is full of references to ‘want’, and as such might come across a little, err, needy.

Then again, perhaps we’re just reading far too much into things, as per usual. For fear of tangents, then, let’s focus on the site itself, what it offers and what it delivers on, rather than the hidden messages that, after looking back on them, probably say more about our collective state of mind rather than anything relating to the people who, most likely, just built a bingo website without really thinking someone was going to get all psychoanalytical on them.

Standard View

The homepage itself is pretty bog standard, not many bells, or whistles for that matter. It’s not the worst we have seen, though- things are nice and clear, although we’re baffled as to what the massive PLUS on the box out in the middle of the screen actually refers to. Perhaps our browser froze during the taste test, maybe it didn’t and someone, somewhere behind the scenes, simply forgot to click the option for ‘animate’. Either way, it’s a bit weird and not entirely reassuring that the rest of the site is going to be up to scratch.

This gripe aside, there’s plenty to like about the first landing page. The menu tabs at the top of the screen are clearly identifiable and where they should be. Regular players will instantly recognise the xCite logo, too, which basically means this website is part of a wider network that have sign up to use the xCite loyalty system. Humans, by nature, are largely creatures of habit, despite our overwhelming capacity to think outside the box and come up with fantastic new ideas. As such seeing something so familiar will likely set a few minds at ease.

Recommended Slot

As for the remainder of the page, there’s a huge but sparsely populated section of that says ‘Gem’s Slot Recommendation This Week’. Hats off to the copywriter for actually understanding how to use an apostrophe, but we can’t for the life of us figure out why the designers have decided to give this section so much room. There’s only ever going to be one slot recommended (hence the singular, rather than plural), so this is always going to look like it’s two thirds empty – there’s enough space for another pair of recommendations.

Below this, there’s the We Want Blog ticket, showing the latest news from the website, and quite clearly showing why, if you have a blog ticker on the homepage, you really need to keep the blog up to date. When we tested the site the most recent entry was from 31st January. We’re hoping that’s 31st January this year, rather than even older, but nevertheless it doesn’t take two minutes (well, OK, maybe 20) to bang out a 100 words on something to do with bingo, and as such this smacks of laziness. Not good enough.

Go Gaming

Anyway, shall we talk about games? Probably a good idea. Click on ‘We Want Games’ in the top menu row and you’ll be taken to a section of the website dedicated to showing you all the games on offer. This follows a pretty standard format, and there’s not a huge amount really to say about this section.

You’ll find 90-Ball Bingo, 75-Ball Bingo, High 5 Bingo, and that’s about it when it comes to bingo. We refer back to the name of the site – We Want Bingo – as a means of highlighting that this is, ironically, rather lacking. Yes, there are bingo games here, and a few games to go at within each variety, but ultimately there are other bingo websites that do this far more comprehensively, and also offer other stuff this particular site doesn’t- for example casino games.

No Casino, Then?

Nope. Or at least we couldn’t find a casino anywhere. There are variations on Progressive Jackpot bingo whereby the jackpot continues to increase the more people are playing, at a rapid rate, but that’s about it. All of which calls into mind one question: Where the hell are the slots from which Gem, whoever she is, chose one to recommend on the homepage?

And for the life of us, after searching high and low, couldn’t find any slot area, anywhere. This either means one of three things – we are far from the sharpest knives in the drawer, this website is really badly designed to the point where you can’t find what you want, or the slots don’t actually exist. The jury seems to be out on which is correct, but whatever the truth it’s pretty annoying.

Plenty O’ Promos

If there’s one thing that We Want Bingo (which was set up in 2011) does do pretty well, and pretty is the operative, it’s promotions. Click on We Want Promos and you see a list of thumbnails showing you the type of promotional offers that are on the table. These range from Refer A Friend, to Happy Hour, to Gem’s Live Draw every Wednesday. There’s not enough space here to go into the nitty gritty of each, but they are all simply and clearly explained in this part of the website, which makes a refreshing change.

xCiting Times

As a final section we feel obliged to mention, xCite is basically the loyalty system currently being used by We Want Bingo. This is a very popular system as we have come across it on numerous sites before, and basically rewards you the more you play. There are four levels you can attain- Rookie, Pro, Master, and Champ- ascending in that order. Each offers you bigger and better rewards and bonuses than the last, and there’s also a separate VIP Club which you can sign up for, which takes you to a whole other level of rewards altogether. Ultimately, then, it’s up to you how good the offer is, as most come down to simply getting involved and playing the games.

We Want More

Sorry, We Want Bingo, but unfortunately we think we may have misunderstood the name of this website. Rather than it being a place for people who want lots of bingo, evidently this is actually what the website owners are saying, too – there’s just not enough bingo here to get by on for longer than a few visits.

Of course, the rewards will tempt you to replay, but realistically there are exactly there are the same offered elsewhere, on far more plentiful sites, albeit the offers here are good quality. Ultimately, then, like so many bingo website you really have to start wondering why people make these half-baked efforts, and wouldn’t it be better for the consumer to just have far, far fewer of them, but with more content on those select few? It would certainly feel much less confusing when it comes to picking the one you want. So much for market forces.