Lingo is a 5 or 6 letter word guess game. The first letter is given. A little like Mastermind, after a word is given, the correct letters are marked. A different mark is given for letters on the correct position.

Each correct word will given you numbers, which you can then remove from you bingo-card. The first to have a line with 5 crosses on its bingo-card wins the game.

Note: This game is based on a Dutch TV-show.

In fact, the game was originally produced in Canada in 1987 for broadcast in Canada and the USA. It was hosted by Michael Reagan (son of Ronald Reagan), and was played to slightly different rules. The show lasted less than a year, but later spawned several foreign versions, most notably the Dutch edition. When the US cable channel GAME SHOW NETWORK (now known as GSN) wished to relaunch the show in 2002, they filmed its first season of "test shows" on the Dutch set, with host Chuck Woolery (known for previous hosting duties on WHEEL OF FORTUNE, SCRABBLE, LOVE CONNECTION and Fox-TV's GREED). The show's immediate ratings success led to a US set being costructed, and production moved back to the states. Although the series stopped production in 2007, it still airs on GSN daily, with Woolery joined by a series of co-hosts since 2004.

Until recently, only the Dutch-aired version has spawned a home board game, with a "travel edition" by Cadaco made for the US market. Later, a Spanish-language edition was produced by GAME LINE, with full gameplay fairly faithful to the show. Now IMAGINATION GAMES have produced both a board game version and a DVD-version hosted by Chuck Woolery (the former I saw in a local BARNES AND NOBLE; the latter is currently available through GSN's online store). Both versions use a variation on the word-guessing, but the board game does not include the bingo-style Lingo Boards that the Dutch and Spanish home games have.