Features

Lottso! Deluxe rolls together bingo, lottery scratch cards, luck and competition. Because of its originality and combination of several games in one, I am rooting for this one to be a hit. Unfortunately, it fails to live up to expectations. I didn’t want to play the game anymore within an hour, but kept playing in hopes it would improve. It didn’t.

The game starts out amusing, but it isn’t long before it turns repetitious. Also, it relies too much on luck. Here’s how the game works: You compete against four computer players, receive six lottery-ish cards and six randomly selected numbered bingo-style balls (anywhere between 1 and 12 along with power ups), and play ten 25-second rounds.

One note before going further, the game comes from Electronic Arts and Pogo.com, an online community-based gaming site. Lottso! Deluxe might be more fun with real players instead of the computer as your opponents. But this option isn’t available in my version. I research this and find nothing explaining why, or if there are different editions. So if you want to play the multiplayer version, check with the vendor (if other than Pogo.com) before buying.

Hurry in choosing your “Charm” number before the next round of bingo balls pop up. If any of the balls match the selected “Charm” number, you earn a bonus. As soon as you see your bingo numbers, place the balls anywhere on the six cards that have their matching numbers. You may not be able to match them all. Occasionally, a card will come with a “free” spot in which you can place any bingo ball on it. Or you could score the star bingo ball that works like a Joker or wild card.

When you fill all the numbers on a card and activate the card, select the boxes to win the best score possible. The nine cards vary in how they work. Scratch cards let you scratch until you run into a frowny face known as the spoiler. You pick one box to scratch in hopes that it’s the largest amount.

The trade in card requires making a decision where you decide whether you want to keep the amount you have on the card or delete it and try for a higher amount. Lottso! is a progressive jackpot card that grows with every round until someone wins. If a card’s marquee lights up, then you win bonus points if you activate that card numbers in that round.

You receive the goals for a game parlor when you enter. These are the goals for advancing to another parlor. Though, it isn’t clear how this works because I am STILL trying to score 3000 points in one hand, but I could move on to the next parlor. I believe you can unlock a parlor after you reach the number of needed points rather than meeting all goals.

The power ups don’t excite at all. Amnesia makes the player forget and stops playing for the round. The tornado blows away the selected player’s numbers. Swap cards replaces your cards with a selected opponent’s card.

Overall, Lottso! Deluxe is onto something, but still needs work. The game is probably more fun with other human players since you can chat with them to try to score a Team Lottso bonus based on a cooperative card. Its value depends on how many players finish the card in one round. Playing the game for an hour may be all you can take. It was for me.

System Requirements: Windows

• Windows ME/98/2000/XP
• 500 MHz or faster processor
• 256 MB RAM
• DirectX 7.0 or later