8.28.2010

Mixed Matrix Slingo – There is no spoon.

If you’ve played Slingo Classic and thought it was too easy, well I have a game for you! Mixed Matrix Slingo takes the board and shuffles everything up. When you spin for numbers it can be anywhere on the board!

Both games are available (of course) at Slingo! But if you haven’t played either game, well let’s start at the beginning. ^_^

Mixed Matrix Slingo is a cross between Bingo and slots. In each game you get a board with 25 numbers on it, and you have 20 spins to match all of the numbers on your board.

Mixed Matrix Slingo board  Purple!

On each spin you’ll get a total of five numbers and/or special pieces. (I’ll get to the special pieces in a moment.) And if you didn’t catch what I said earlier, the numbers can be anywhere on the board. You have a few seconds to find them, so you’d better be quick!

The first 16 spins are free, but the last four cost points.

  • Spin 17 – 500 points
  • Spin 18 – 1000 points
  • Spin 19 – 1500 points
  • Spin 20 – 2000 points

You can see why it’s best to finish your card as soon as possible. ^_^

For each number you match you’ll earn 400 points. Whenever you cover five numbers in a row, column, or diagonally, that’s a Slingo and it’s worth 2000 points!

Little bit of math here. ^_^ Covering every number on your card is worth a total of 34,000 points! (10,000 points for the numbers and 24,000 points for all of the Slingos.)

When you fill your card you get a Full Card [FC] bonus.

Full Card bonus

Full card! Woohoo!

The earlier you fill your card, the bigger the bonus! You won’t fill your card every hand, so enjoy whatever bonus you pick up. ^_^

When the game is over your score converts into Slingos. In the above picture I gained 48,000 Slingos. Sweet!

HOWEVER! To play Mixed Matrix Slingo you must pony up at least 10,000 Slingo coins at the start of each game. This goes into a group pool and the number one player gets all of it!

Earning back 10,000 coins isn’t a problem with this game. If you want to really gamble, check out the 25k, 50k, or 100k rooms! 

 

Special Pieces

Sometimes you’ll get more than just numbers on a spin. If you’re lucky you might get a gold coin or two. ^_^

GOLD!! Shiny!

These beauties are worth 2,000 points each! Woohoo!! They’re a wonderful boost to your score, and it’s always great to start a game with three gold coins. ^_^ But when I’m near the end and need just 2-3 numbers to fill my card, well.. then I’m not quite as happy to see coins.

Another great item (and it’s always great) is the free spin!

Free Spin token Weeee!!!

Free spin tokens appear at random and they’re “saved” for the later rounds. You can have up to four, and they’re listed under the spin number. In the picture below I was on spin 16 out of 20 and had 2 free spins!

Free Spin counter Two more, please!

As soon as you get to round 17 you’ll have an option to pay or use your free spin. ALWAYS pay before you use free spins!

If I have two free spins I’ll most likely need to pay for two spins, unless I get a full card. Now follow my math here. ^_^ If I use my free spins on 17-18, then I’ll have to pay 3,500 points for spins 19-20. On the other hand, if I pay for spins 17-18, then it’s only 1,500 points. It might not seem like a big deal, but remember, you’re competing against other players. 2,000 points can make a huge difference!

The next special piece is the Joker. Whenever it appears you can mark any number in the column above it! If you get three or more Jokers, you get an extra bonus!

3 Joker BonusHi, guys!

Jokers are awesome. ^_^

  • 3 Jokers = 1,000 point bonus
  • 4 Jokers = 2,500 point bonus
  • 5 Jokers = 10,000 point bonus!

Getting five Jokers is extremely rare! If you’re lucky enough to get it, CELEBRATE! ^_^ Send me a message and I’ll celebrate with ya!

In addition to the regular Jokers, every now and then the rare green Super Joker appears.

Super Joker Hey! Where’s my pot of gold?

The Super Joker can be placed anywhere on the board! He’s flexible!

IMPORTANT: Look before you place the Super Joker! See how the numbers beside him are grayed out? That’s because you have to place the Super Joker first. If you aren’t careful you’ll mark a number that you would have gotten anyway. (Ex: Marking an 18 when you already spun an 18.) It’s a waste of the Super Joker and it’s REALLY frustrating. ~_~

Moving on!

So far these are all good things, but the devil is in the details.

Darn Devil! Or in the reels.

That was a terrible segue, but I couldn’t resist. ^_^

Every now and then the Darn Devil will appear with a burst of flames on the reels. He’s truly, truly evil, and takes half of your points. (Bribes and begging don’t work. He’ll still take your points.)

He might show up at the beginning of a game, when you barely have anything to lose. He might show up at the end and shove you from first place into last. (It happens!) You might not see him for many games, or you might see him several times in one game. He’s random, and it sucks when he strikes. Sometimes people in chat will say “DD” which means they got hit. An appropriate response is, “ss” which means, “So sorry!” Or if you don’t care, don’t say anything. ^_^

Luckily, we have one defender against the Darn Devil: the Cherub.

Cherub YAY!!! *Boogies*

If fate smiles upon you, the Cherub will swoop down, fan away the flames of Hades, and you’ll get to keep your points. ^_^ He seems to rescue me about 25% of the time. I guess he’s stuck in traffic for the other 75%.

In chat someone might say “csmb” which means “Cherub saved my behind.” You could say “grats” or “wtg” or glare jealously at your screen. (I pick the latter.)

 

Handy Things

Player rankings change after every spin. To see how you compare to others, hit the “Scores” tab at the top. Instant list of current rankings!

Scores tab Hmmm.. Did you wait until you were #1 to get this pic?

And yes, I did wait for a game where I was #1. ^_^

You may notice the “News” tab right next to the “Scores.” Whenever anyone gets 4 Jokers, 5 Jokers, or gets a Full Card [FC], it’s posted in the news.

news tab I’m sensing a pattern here.

Oh shush. *^_^*

 

Tips & Tricks

1. Each spin you have only a few seconds to see if you have any matches. I usually start clicking while my eyes search the grid. There’s no penalty for misclicks!

When you move your cursor over the squares they’ll either light up or stay white.

cropped board I like fireflies!

If the squares light up that means you have at least one match on the board! It might not be the square your cursor is on, so keep searching!

2. Place the Jokers FIRST. It’s very common for the Joker to be the only match you can make, and you’ll waste a lot of time searching for the numbers on the other reels.

3. Know your blind spots! For some reason my eyes skim right over the numbers directly above the reels. Whenever I can’t find a match (but I know it’s there) I make sure to check the bottom line.

 

Final Rating

I like Mixed Matrix Slingo, but I kinda like Slingo Classic more. The extra challenge just makes my head hurt. *Sheepish grin*

Mixed Matrix Slingo is still a great game, it just doesn’t rock my world. 4 out of 5 stars.

What would you rate it? Do you have any tips to share?

 

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