QUICK JUMP

Cost to play: Free
Prizes/jackpot: Registered players can play for bingo dollars to spend in the site's store
Download required? No
Frequency: New game every few minutes
Number of cards: 4
Sound effects/Caller? No
Chat? Yes but only if you're registered to play for prizes

Bingo Online offers Internet players 2 bingo styles, regular and progressive, and 2 play options, for fun or for prizes. Everyone plays the same games together but play-for-fun players don't collect bingo dollars and can't join the chat room -- but they can read along!

I signed in to play for fun by giving a nickname and the game loaded quickly. Each time I came to play on this site the game was in progress but the wait for the next game was short.

I started with regular bingo and I had 4 cards. Since the game was in progress I had to play catch-up. The numbers are displayed over the cards. I like the bingo ball graphic that shows the latest number. The patterns aren't highlighted and the colors are a bit subdued so I had some trouble reading the cards but I caught up quickly enough.

The games went smoothly and after a while I switched over to the progressive game. The patterns here are more complex and the games last longer. The chat room was really active in this room.

If you choose to register, you can collect bingo dollars which you can redeem at the Bingo Dollar Store. There are 3 shopping categories: hardware, software and miscellaneous. Your purchases are debited from you bingo dollar account.

It's a quiet site -- no sound effects -- but it's a lively game so check it out. Plus there's no wait to enter the game.