In a surprising and innovative move, LinkedIn has announced the introduction of gaming features on its platform – Pinpoint, Crossclimb, and Queens.

This development marks a significant shift in LinkedIn’s approach, aiming to blend leisure and keep people on the platform longer.

Here’s what you need to know about LinkedIn’s new venture into the world of gaming.

The Rationale Behind the Move

LinkedIn’s decision to integrate gaming is not just about entertainment; it’s a strategic move to increase user engagement and interaction within the platform.

By introducing games, LinkedIn aims to foster a different kind of interaction among its users, promoting professional connections, a sense of community, and shared interests.

The games are designed to be more than just fun—they are for learning, networking, and personal development.

Features of LinkedIn Games

The games on LinkedIn are crafted similarly to Wordle, and they are played only once a day. You can invite your first-level connections to play a game with you.

Whether you play the game or not and want to share your score, you can opt-in to share that information.

Benefits for Users

For users, LinkedIn games offer some benefits:

• Skill Development: Games designed to sharpen your mind can offer a more engaging way to have some casual fun.
• Enhanced Networking: Users can interact with their first-level connections in a less formal environment by participating in games.

Potential Challenges

While the initiative is groundbreaking, it also comes with potential challenges. Balancing professionalism with the casual nature of games could be tricky for some.

If you are an employee, make sure you play games on your own time and not on company time. If you start playing the same game as your boss, who is a first-level connection, they will see your name along with their other connections who played the game that day. However, according to LinkedIn, you can control who sees your gaming participation.

Roll Out of Available Games on Mobile and Desktop

You can access these games under LinkedIn News and the My Network section on desktop or mobile. Read the descriptions of these in more detail on LinkedIn and more on the FAQs. At the moment, the games are free.

• Pinpoint – word association
• Crossclimb – timed trivia
• Queens – logic game like Sudoku, without the numbers
• Blueprint and Inferences may also be coming, according to a post by Kevin Turner, but I don’t have access to those yet, so have no image or information

Conclusion

LinkedIn’s introduction of games is a bold attempt to redefine professional networking. If successful, it could set a new trend in how professional networks operate, making them more dynamic and interactive.

As the platform begins rolling out this feature, all eyes will be on the professional community’s reaction and how it might influence the future of networking. Whether this will be a game-changer or just a passing trend remains to be seen, but it certainly adds an exciting dimension to the professional world.

Did you catch the previous article? Conestoga, Great Valley High Schools Students Recognized for Altruism & Next Steps on LinkedIn

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