Instant wins have been giving us that quick hit of big win potential in a variety of formats. The original instant win game was simply a scratch-to-reveal card that entitled you to rewards at your local petrol/gas station, but the appealing nature of this game led to the development of many others.
The instant win games you have available to you today range from very similar scratch card style games to carnival-style mini-games and even the relatively new mashup of slots and bingo called Slingo.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to playing them. Each different instant win has its own rules that you must follow in order to play. Having said that, playing these games is usually a pretty straightforward affair, even if you've never done so before. The rules tend to be very simple and are often available to view within the game itself if you're ever in any doubt. Bear in mind that these games are designed to be quick and easy, so you won't find any complicated mechanics to get your head around, which is a relief!
They're usually pretty easy to find simply by searching for the term 'scratch'. As the name suggests, online scratch games are much like the ones found at your local shop in that you scratch off panels to reveal prizes or symbols that you must match to win a prize.
Though scratch games come in various themes, they all follow the same basic set of rules and have a similar layout. When you first open a scratch game, you'll notice that there are three different sections: a scratch panel, a paytable and a bet adjustment section.
A typical scratch game is played as follows:
Think of carnival-style mini-games and you may end up with visions of coconut shies, hook-a-ducks, shooting galleries, and other popular fairground stall attractions. That's actually a pretty good description of the online casino games in this category!
The variety that these games come in is just about endless, making them super-interesting to explore!
Slingo is a tantalizing combination of bingo and slots in which each spin of the single row of reels marks corresponding numbers of the accompanying bingo style card. Just like in bingo, wins come from marking off lines of numbers horizontally, vertically, and even diagonally in many cases, and just like in slots, spinning in special symbols unlocks bonus features.
In the classic game of Slingo, you'll see a 5x5 grid of numbers in the center, a single row of five reels underneath, and a paytable on the left. You start by choosing your bet amount under the paytable before hitting the Start Game button. You'll then have 11 spins to match as many lines as you can for a cash prize. If you land a joker symbol at any point, you can choose any number in the column in which it appears. At the end of your 11 spins, you often get the option to buy additional spins at a set price for a shot at potentially winning even more!
Since there's no strategy to playing scratch games other than choosing your bet and revealing the panels, the best thing you can do here is to keep a close eye on your activity to make sure you're not spending more than you want to.
With carnival-style mini-games, while it's true that there's no element of skill, it is smart to check out the rules of how to play properly before you get started. Once again, be sure to keep an eye on your activity.
When it comes to Slingo games, there are a couple of points during the game where you decide what the action will be: jokers and additional spins. With jokers, you get to choose which number from the relevant column you want to mark off. In this case, it's wise to choose a number that is already on its way to making up a line. Regarding additional spins, be careful as the cost of these can rise steeply depending on how many numbers are left on the grid and there's no guarantee that spin will result in a win.