Imprimis2's Online Gaming Site Extravaganza! Hop on the Pogo Stick!
Written: Nov 01 '02 (Updated Jun 03 '03)
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Well, instead of starting everything out on November 25th for my one year anniversary, let's start this month, with November the 1st being the first online gaming review extravaganza review! Featuring pogo.com!
Pogo.com is one of my favorite online gaming websites. Why? The selection of games they have is so widely varied, that you could find just about anything you wanted to play and enjoy. From card games, board games, trivia games, sports games, puzzle games, and much much more, you'll find it all here. Let's begin by jumping on the pogo stick and get started. Alright? Okay! :)
When you visit pogo.com, you will notice all the games are in a categorical view. This is the best possible way to organize a gaming site so you can pick a category you have particular interest in. The first thing you will see is something called My Favorites, which is simply the games you like the best at pogo, all conveniently placed at the top so you can have direct access to them. If you want to edit your favorites, just go to a game, and click "Add to My Favorites". Be careful, you can only have a maximum of 5!
Next, moving to the right is the Spotlight. This is just the "spotlight" game for the moment, and I think it's basically just an effort on Pogo's part to draw visitors to that particular game. It's still an easy link since it's at the top of the page.
Up next, we have the Card and Board games section. In here, you can play Backgammon, Bridge, Checkers, Chess, Cribbage, Dominoes, Euchre, First Class Solitaire (a solitaire game with a cash Jackpot--more on that in a little while), Hearts, and Spades. That is a pretty good selection of games, so you shouldn't find yourself lacking in that category.
After that, going to the right again, we have the Pogo Presents category. Included is Slingo, and Primetime Pitch, a Pogo.com original card game based on television shows. I've played it, it's pretty fun, but nothing special.
Moving back down and to the left, we have the Sports Games section. Here we have the EA Sports Triviatron game (sports trivia), Football Bonanza (pick winning teams), Pebble Beach Golf, and Perfect Passer (football). Decent sports selection, but nothing obscure like Curling. :) LOL
To the right we go, to the Pogo Shtick section. This is not games, but rather a magazine filled with pogo.com information and headlines. Comics and other graphical funnies are in here.
Moving down and left yet again, the Extreme Games section displays. Here we have the Freekstyle Crash Pad (I think it's skateboarding), It's Outta Here 2 (baseball), SSX Snowdreams (snowboarding). A small variety here, but good because its groundbreaking for online gaming sites. You might want to check these out even if you aren't a sports games fan.
Right again, we have my favorite section. Word Games. The games included here are Crosswords, Tumble Bees (a word forming game, like boggle), Word Riot (a group clue making game), a Word Search, and Word Whomp (an anagram type game where you whack gophers to death). The formats in each section are varied, making for a good word experience. Don't get the Q, for heaven's sake!
Down and left, down and left. Same ritual folks. The largest section awaits. The Freebie Casino is all casino games, as you could guess. The games included are Ali Baba Slots, Bank Buster Lotto (a lotto with a million dollar top prize), Big Shot Roulette, Buckaroo Blackjack, Double Deuce Poker (deuces are wild), EZ Win Bingo, Jackpot Bingo (a game with a progressive jackpot), Joker's Wild Poker, Keno, Sci-Fi Slots, Showbiz Slots, Spooky Slots (they only have this around Halloween time), Turbo 21 (a fast-paced blackjack-hand-making game), and Video Poker. A huge selection here, and you'll probably find something you want.
To the right; and we'll stay in this column now. The Arcade section graces itself into the mix. Here we have Hammerhead Pool (a billiards game), Highland Golf (more golf), Tank Hunter (a war-type blow-em up game), and Tube Runner (which I've never played). I don't visit this section very often, but you might find something interesting to chew on.
Next to last, we have the Trivia Games section. Here we have 5 Alarm Trivia (multiple choice format), The Great Pogini (pogo makes a prediction, you either agree or disagree, get it right, you win tokens), Pocket Quiz (a daily trivia question, get it right and you have a chance to win $50), and Triviatron II, which is a simple multiple choice interactive multiplayer trivia game.
Lastly, the Puzzle Games section. Included here are Animal Ark Mah Jong, Poppit! (a bubble popping game), and Sweet Tooth (a 3 like-kind-matchup game).
Those are all the sections at Pogo. There are more games added every month or so, and this review will become outdated in a relatively short time, since the site is constantly updated. However, this is a thorough explanation of the games that are currently there (November 2002), and will most likely remain there for some time.
We still have more ground to cover, folks! One such facet that we haven't gotten around to yet is the pogo JACKPOT. OK. What exactly is the Jackpot I'm talking about? Well, in some games, there will be a jackpot amount displayed somewhere in your window. If you are lucky enough to meet the requirements to win it (like matching 10 of 20 numbers in Keno, or hitting JACKPOT in your Jackpot spin in various games), you will win the JACKPOT. And it's all cash, baby! Jackpots start out at $50, but can increase all the way up to $4,999! Some games have jackpots, some don't. Just check on the front page for a green jackpot amount to the right of the game to see if it has one or not.
There are other various facets of pogo.com that make the site very enjoyable to visit and play. Sometimes when I log in, I will get a surprise message, and surprise tokens telling me that they appreciate me being a member. I've won up to 500 tokens before! Oh, and what are tokens you ask? Well, tokens are pogo.com's currency. You'll win tokens in all the games, and they're simply used for prize drawings. Get lucky enough to actually WIN a prize, though, and you might make me realize their worth. I've got around 90,000 tokens right now.
All games at pogo.com are java, so you'll have the common gray boxes to talk in, but they're not too bad. No special graphics in the chat boxes or anything, but the games are fun. Lots of friendly people too, but there are buggers out there too, so be careful.
The graphics in the games are nothing particulary amazing to look at, but they are clear and simple, so each game is fairly easy to jump right in and get started playing.
Pogo also has a QuickLinks section on their webpage that will navigate you to their Funny Pages (or the Shtick as mentioned earlier), the Pogo Gear Store, where you can buy all sorts of Pogo merchandise, the Latest News from Pogo, Free Offers (I'll pass, thanks), the Monthly Newsletter, Tell-A-Friend, and Sign Out. Pretty convenient.
Pogo also shows a Recent Winners section on the left-hand side of the page, and has a picture of ONE person. A list follows, with their first name and the amount they won. You can check in other places too to see how much someone won, by going to the Prizes section.
What other bases to cover? Oh yes. The signup process at Pogo.com is free, as it always has been. It's very simple too, just put in an email address, your name, address information, and perhaps a few more tidbits, and you're all set to have fun!
Technical support can be a bit "vague" at times, but pogo.com is usually very quick on the trigger to answer any game questions you may have. Sometimes I put in ideas for games, and I always get the same answer from their hosts. Autoresponder? I dont know. Tech help is good there, though.
That's about all we have to cover here, but I hope you enjoyed reading about Pogo.com! Now get out there and play some games, and win the jackpot!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Location: Kentucky, USA
Reviews written: 131
Trusted by: 45 members
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