Why do you go to LinkedIn? If you asked this question to someone until a few months ago, the answer would be to see job updates, for professional networking, or to post your own achievements. However, of late, LinkedIn has got a whole community coming to the site or app at a particular time to unwind with five quick and engaging games.
If you are one of them, keep reading to know some interesting facts about the games. If not, you must read the full article to know what you may be missing out on, or if you should also jump the bandwagon.
What are LinkedIn Games?
There are five of them, comprising two word-based and three logic- and reasoning-oriented brain teasers. If Queens and Tango test your logic and reasoning skills like a game of su-do-ku does, thought-provoking Pinpoint and Crossclimb may send you looking for a dictionary to ace them. Then there is Zip, a maze game that asks you to chart your path to the goal counting each time you backtrack after straying into a wrong territory.
All 5 games are timed, some of them help you with hints, and every successful ending rewards you with a “You are crushing it” compliment and congratulates you if you do better than a certain number of CEOs on the platform. It tells you your score, and the average time you took to solve the game.
You can play each game once a day, and also see which other connections have played the game that day, and check your performance on the leaderboards.
The bait for the players to return to LinkedIn every day is the fear of losing the winning streak. And if you have been a pro, you are allowed to lose a game or two once in a while and retain your streak.
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How to Play Queens, Crossclimb, Tango, Pinpoint, Zip on LinkedIn
Queens
It will remind you of sudoku, but there are no numbers. You need to fill the grid in a way that each row, column, and coloured region contains exactly one Queen represented by a Crown symbol.
Pinpoint
It’s a word association game where you guess the common theme or category connecting a set of words. There are five clues to help you figure out the link.
Crossclimb
This one is a fast-paced trivia game where you build a word ladder to win. Solve each clue to find the correct words and arrange them in sequence, making sure each word differs by just one letter from the next. Unlock the top and bottom words by cracking their special clues!
Tango
This game is a daily logic puzzle where you fill a 6×6 grid with sun and moon symbols. Each row and column should contain an equal number of suns and moons, while ensuring no more than two identical symbols appear next to each other, either horizontally or vertically. Some cells add extra constraints: an equal sign (=) means the two symbols must be the same, while an X indicates they must be different.
Zip
In this game, players connect numbered circles on a grid in ascending order to create a continuous path. You have to draw a line from the lowest to the highest number, passing through every cell on the grid without leaving any one empty.
Where to Find LinkedIn Games?
It appears that LinkedIn never went on a publicity spree for the games, other than putting out a few posts announcing the launch, and let the users discover them on their own, instead. They are quite literally hidden in plain sight, careful not to come in the way of your more serious browsing or distract you from any serious business on the professional networking site.
To find these games, you can just head to the LinkedIn Games Hub. Your ‘My Network’ tab can also help you spot the games, or you can simply look for the Today’s Games section on the homepage.
Besides, if you have played the games once, you will find them in your notifications, or by swiping right on the mobile app.
You might also stumble upon them in your feed if a player from your contacts has shared their score.
If you don’t find them anywhere, just type “games” into the LinkedIn search bar, or look up “LinkedIn Games” on Google Search.
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5 Facts about LinkedIn Games
- LinkedIn entered the gaming arena in May 2024, launching three of the five games on its mobile app and desktop. Crossclimb, Queens, and Pinpoint were the first three games.
- While launching the games, LinkedIn had projected an annual growth rate of 8.61% for them.
- The inspiration for LinkedIn to launch these games was said to have been the popularity of word games like Wordle, which The New York Times bought for a huge sum in 2022.
- The brain behind LinkedIn games is Lakshman Somasundaram, who runs the games division at LinkedIn.
- According to a recent report in WIRED, 84% of the players return the next day, and that nearly 830,000 people have subscribed to LinkedIn’s daily Games newsletter.
Why LinkedIn Games?
Announcing the launch of the games, Daniel Roth, Editor in Chief, VP of Content Development at LinkedIn, had said: “We want to give people a way to exercise their brains while taking a quick break, but also give people a reason to connect with others.”
A year later, Somasundaram answered the ‘why LinkedIn’ question while speaking to WIRED: “I like to think of it as we are very much playing our own game. We want LinkedIn to feel like the world’s best workplaces. We need to find a way to bring that fun element onto our platform.”
While the jury is still out on whether the games have proved to be a “reason to connect”, what regular players vouch for is that they are simple, addictive, and don’t take much of your time.
“What started as casual tapping is now my little morning ritual. Those 5-10 minutes? Pure bliss,” posted one user, while another said: “LinkedIn Games in my view are a well-executed addition to the platform, both as a tool for intellectual stimulation and as a strategic move to drive daily engagement.”
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