Zynga eyes up a full house

San Francisco firm Zynga, which recently hit the headlines when Alec Baldwin was kicked off a flight for refusing to stop playing one of its games, Words with Friends, this week began a secret trial of Zynga Bingo. Played on Facebook, it comes complete with a narrator making the traditional Bingo calls such as "legs 11" and "sweet 16".

The firm hopes its version of Bingo, a game which can be traced back to a lottery called Il Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia played in Italy 1530, will become popular with a younger generation.

"We've kept the Bingo calls, and we've tried to keep to the original game as much as possible - but with some twists," says Nicole Opas, senior producer at Zynga Bingo. "You can play up to six cards in a game, so it gets pretty manic."

The game will be free to play but players can buy credits to unlock special features within the game more quickly.

The Evening Standard was shown the game in Zynga's San Francisco office, which features a fairground for employees to play in during breaks.

Players will be able to invite their Facebook friends to play, and can choose from one of several rooms, including a Las Vegas room and even a pirate-themed game. Each room is expected to be packed with hundreds of players when the game launches, although in the trial period it is limited to 25 players.

Both Zynga and Facebook hope to make money through selling in-game credits. Zynga gets more than 90 per cent of its revenue from the social-networking site. Users buy Facebook credits in Zynga games, with Facebook keeping 30 per cent of sales from the transactions.

"If anyone can make Bingo cool, it will be Zynga," says Stuart Miles, of gadget site Pocket Lint.

"Who would have thought that Farmville, a game that sees you tend to a fake farm, would be worth 12 per cent of Facebook revenue?"

Zynga's biggest hits

Words with Friends - the free game, based on Scrabble, is so addictive it got actor Alec Baldwin booted off a flight when he refused to stop playing.

Farmville - the original online social game, Farmville sees players tend a farm, driving their Facebook friends mad with constant updates as they do.

Zynga poker - Poker reinvented for the Facebook generation, complete with garish graphics and sounds, and the ability to play against your friends.