Pogo Games - a Brief Overview

Pogo Games (http://www.pogo.com) is an account-driven games website set up by Electronic Arts in 1998 (although it existed for several years before under the name of Total Entertainment Network). Players create a free account which allows them to play dozens of different games, either singly or against other players.

By playing the games, players earn prize tokens which can be entered into daily, weekly and monthly drawers for actual cash prizes, and can also earn 'jackpot spins' within many of the games themselves, getting a chance to win further tokens, screensavers and wallpaper, merchandise (caps, mugs, etc), and money. Jackpots within the game can be as high as $4999.00.

A wide variety of games is offered, from the traditional solitaire card games and various versions of poker and blackjack, to more esoteric word and puzzle games. There are several games which are direct tie-ins to other EA products (notably The Sims).

For $39.99/year, players can sign their accounts up to Club Pogo, a membership only section of the site, which allows them to play the original games without interruption from adverts and intermissions, and also gives access to many other, member-only games. Club Pogo members are also set weekly challenges within the games to win badges which can be displayed beside their names in games. Further rewards are given for collection of these badges.

I have been a member of pogo since at least 2004 (and joined Club Pogo as soon as the section opened in the first year), and find it an enjoyable distraction still, with a good variety of different types of games to keep you occupied. I would recommend giving it a try highly, even if only in the free section.

Incidentally, at the time of writing, the site states 313,504 players online. So presumably, I'm not the only one who thinks this.