Blackout Bingo
Strengths
- Free practice rounds
- Low cash entry fees
- Redeem Skillz tickets for real-life prizes
- Play multiple matches per day
Weaknesses
- Must frequently play to earn loyalty bonuses
- Don’t win rewards if you lose a round
- It can take a long time to earn prizes with free games
- Several states prohibit cash tournaments
Blackout Bingo is a popular mobile game that pays money and prizes. This app offers free and paid bingo games. You can play in single games and participate in tournaments with single or multiple cards.
If you can quickly daub bingo cards with fast-paced rounds, this can be a fun way to pass your free time and potentially win some money.
This Blackout Bingo review can help you decide if this game is a legit way to earn extra income.
Table of Contents
What is Blackout Bingo?
Blackout Bingo is a casino game app from Big Run Studios available through the Skillz Games platform. This game is available for Android, iPhone, and iPad devices. You play against another person in two-minute competitions, and the winner can earn virtual tickets (redeemable for gift cards and merchandise) and cash prizes.
If you don’t want to play with real money, you can play free bingo games and win merchandise. Unfortunately, several states prohibit cash games, and you may need to choose other legit games that pay real money. This game follows the usual bingo rules with the ultimate goal of trying to daub every square on your game. By quickly daubing squares, you earn power-ups that can help you fill in other squares for uncalled numbers.
Each competition round takes the game’s main character, Chelsea, across the world for additional appeal. While the game rules or difficulty don’t change, the game card takes place in popular travel destinations like New York City, Mexico, and Paris.
Who Can Play?
You must be at least 18 years old and have a mobile phone to play these games. If you currently have a Skillz account, you’re most likely eligible. It’s possible to play Blackout Bingo in the United States and foreign countries. However, the app uses your current GPS local to determine if you can play in cash tournaments.
Cash-prize competitions are ineligible in these states:
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Louisiana
- South Dakota
If you’re in one of these states, you can still compete in matches to win virtual tickets. You can exchange these tickets for real-life merchandise and gift cards. Unfortunately, it can take a while to earn enough tickets to get merchandise, and the rewards may not be worth the effort unless you love playing virtual bingo.
Skills-Based Games
You might be hesitant to try this game to earn money if you avoid gambling. The game takes a skills-based approach and tries to match you with players with a similar skill rating. As a beginner, you can expect to play against others that are still learning the game rather than seasoned members.
Blackout Bingo Fees
You can play Blackout Bingo for free as cash competitions are optional. After downloading the app, you create a free avatar and start playing free practice rounds. Cash competitions cost $0.60 per card ($0.50 entry fee plus a $0.10 platform fee). For example, you will pay $1.20 to play two cards simultaneously and $1.80 for three cards.
While you can recoup your entry fee if you win, Skillz keeps the $0.10 platform fee. So, you can pay $0.60 to play but win $1.00. Non-cash competitions (practice rounds) are free but do require redeeming zTokens. You can earn tokens by winning bingo rounds, watching ads, and browsing the app.
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What Are the Rules for Blackout Bingo?
The gameplay is straightforward, even if you have limited Bingo experience. It’s also easy to play with this app. Each game is two minutes, and a new ball is displayed every few seconds. When a number you have on your card is called, you tap the card square to daub it. You can earn bonuses by tapping the number before the next number calling. Your goal is to get as many bingos as possible on the 5×5 game card.
There are four different ways to get a bingo:
- Horizontal: Fill an entire five-square row
- Vertical: Daub a whole column
- Diagonal: Stretch from a top corner to the opposite bottom corner
- 4 Corners: Daub each corner
When you get a bingo, the Bingo button in the bottom right corner of your screen turns gold. You will need to tap this button to claim the bonus points.
How Do You Win Money on Blackout Bingo?
Your prize options depend on playing in free “Practice” rounds or paying for cash tournaments. When comparing your game options, you will see the potential prizes for the winner. Your winnings can include:
- Cash or virtual currency
- Skillz tickets (you can redeem these for merchandise, gift cards, and game credits)
- Medals
You can only redeem the zToken virtual currency to enter new practice games.
Cash Prizes
There isn’t a redemption minimum to withdraw your cash winnings. However, it’s impossible to withdraw any bonus cash you earn or use Skillz tickets to redeem.
Merchandise
Whether you play with cash or free tokens, you win Skillz tickets. In time, you can exchange your tickets for real-life prizes in the Skillz Rewards store. Your redemption options can include:
- Skillz swag (stickers, clothing, etc.)
- Headphones
- Google Chromecast
- Amazon gift cards
- Bonus cash credits
- Kitchen gadgets
- Jewelry
- Vehicles
You will need many tickets to claim prizes, with the cheapest redemptions starting at 1,000 tickets for stickers and 20,000 tickets for $1 bonus cash – plan on having between 400,000 tickets and 3,000,000 tickets for most gift cards and merchandise rewards. If you stockpile points, you can get a pool table for 43.7 million tickets or a Camaro Convertible 1LS sports car for 792 million.
As you need so many tickets, you may only consider using this app to play in cash tournaments to earn a side income. But if you just like playing bingo for fun (and for free), the ability to eventually earn prizes is an incentive to use this app.
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Best Blackout Bingo Features
Here are some of the many features of Blackout Bingo:
Boosts
Quickly daubing your game squares lets you earn in-game boosts. These boosts can give you free squares, bonus points and let you freeze the clock.
Some of the various boosts are:
- Golden Ball: Choose 1 of 5 balls to fill in your square
- Free Daub: Fill in one square of choice on your board
- Freeze: Temporarily stops the timer
- 2x: Earn double points for 10 seconds
- Extra Time: Add 10 seconds to the time
You will need to act quickly as the timer keeps counting down as you use your free daubs. (also, you are limited in how many you can hold at any one time)
However, these bonuses make it a lot easier to get a bingo.
Free Practice Tournaments
You can play as many free games as you wish to improve your skills until you’re ready to win real money. If you are new to it, play the practice tournaments so you are comfortable with how the games operate. You don’t want to start playing for real before knowing how everything works.
24/7 Games
Games are running around the clock and many people are playing the app day or night. As a result, you usually won’t have to wait long to compare your score against a competitor in real-time. If it’s a slow period, you can play and wait for the app to find another player. You can receive push notifications when the app compares your score to another player.
Leagues
After playing multiple practices or cash games, you can enter a league and compete for guaranteed prizes.
Loyalty Tiers
If you’re a frequent user, you can earn more Skillz Tickets for the rest of the rounds you win for the next calendar month. You can make between 2 to 6 times more tickets for each match, and the bonus rewards help you redeem physical prizes sooner.
No In-Game Ads
What’s nice about this platform is not constantly viewing ads like other free casino games and instant win games. Unfortunately, games with ads slow down your playing speed so you cannot compete in as many rounds. Plus, the ads can be frustrating to watch before and after each round.
Who is Blackout Bingo For?
You should consider playing Blackout Bingo if you enjoy fast-paced casino games that can win cash prizes. It’s easy to play and doesn’t require any special skills. And you won’t be bombarded with ads like some free bingo platforms, another reason this game is worth playing.
If you’re a frequent player, you can earn physical rewards as you have fun. But, unfortunately, this game isn’t a great option if you live in one of the states that prohibits cash prizes.
Learn more about Blackout Bingo
Blackout Bingo Pros and Cons
Here are the positives and negatives of playing Blackout Bingo from Skillz.
Pros
- Free practice rounds
- Low cash entry fees
- Redeem Skillz tickets for real-life prizes
- Play multiple matches per day
Cons
- Must frequently play to earn loyalty bonuses
- Don’t win rewards if you lose a round
- It can take a long time to earn prizes with free games
- Several states prohibit cash tournaments
Blackout Bingo FAQs
Yes, it’s possible to win real cash prizes for each bingo cash tournament you win. There is no minimum balance requirement to cash out your winnings either. The free practice rounds also let you redeem virtual tickets for physical merchandise and gift cards.
Yes, it can be 100% free to play if you only participate in the practice rounds. However, you won’t win real cash, and it costs at least $0.60 per game to enter cash prize tournaments.
You can win double your entry fee for each round. For example, the minimum entry fee is $0.50 plus a $0.10 platform fee. Your competitors also pay a $0.50 entry fee. If you win, you get your 50-cent entry fee back plus the loser’s pay-in to profit 50 cents. You won’t get rich with this phone game, but you can still earn a small amount to monetize a hobby. Other home-based side hustles are more lucrative if you need to earn part-time income.
Yes – this game is easy to play, and you will feel comfortable after a handful of practice rounds. Once you figure out how to use the boosts and tap the bingo button, you can quickly earn bonus points as you daub different numbers.
No, it’s not a scam, it’s a game where you can win money but you have to be realistic about how much you think you can earn. You won’t be able to make a consistent income like a traditional job. You can win money in the game and you will be paid out – the question is how much time and effort will it take. Remember it’s a game so it’s about entertainment first, money second.
Blackout Bingo Review: Final Thoughts
Blackout Bingo is a legit gaming app to win real cash and merchandise. The game is easy to learn and slightly addicting. Your winning potential may not be the same as going to Vegas, but it can be less risky, and you can earn a few dollars each day.
