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Looking to sharpen your mind, take a quick break, or spark conversations? Then maybe LinkedIn games are the answer.
That’s what the B2B social media giant is banking on, anyway; these are the reasons they give for the introduction of games onto the platform.
Why not? As the professional exodus from X continues, LinkedIn is now arguably the only decent place for people to hang out in a work capacity. But as a famous (albeit insane) author once wrote, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”
Certainly, LinkedIn games are now part of my morning routine, as well as several of my colleagues across the NM team. [Incidentally, another reason for playing – not given by LinkedIn – is to grab bragging rights to the best results of the day.]
You might already have noticed invitations on your feed to play LinkedIn games. If not, here’s a handy primer.
Crossclimb
This game is like a crossword in the shape of a ladder, with clues to find each of its four (or sometimes five) letter words. Once you’ve successfully found all the missing words, you re-organise the rungs so that as you go down the list, only one letter changes from each word.
The final challenge is to get the top and bottom words, which are usually related in some way and have a single hint to get them both.
Once completed, Crossclimb should look something like this:
PinPoint
Pinpoint is a favourite in the NM office. The point (pun intended) is to guess the category that links the words together. You have five guesses; after each incorrect attempt you get another word. Can you spot what connects them?
It’s actually harder than it sounds but you can feel smug if you get it in one or two goes…
Queens
Unlike the other LinkedIn games, Queens doesn’t revolve around words. Instead, it plays like Sudoku (in that you rely on the same logic).
You must place your Queens (or, to be a pedant, crowns) in such a way that there is only one occupying each row, column and colour region. The Queens cannot touch each other.
It can be quite a brain ache to work out at first, but after a while it gets easier. Here’s an example.
Pro tip – turn on ‘auto-place Xs’ in the settings so that you can see what spaces are no longer available.
So, do games belong on a B2B platform?
Well, it depends on what you mean by a B2B platform – because LinkedIn is so much more than a vessel for prospecting new business or looking for jobs.
LinkedIn is, at its core, social media. Made by people, for people. And people like games, right? Crossclimb, Pinpoint and Queens are as much a part of LinkedIn as Olympic memes, #humblebrags and cereal brand Surreal getting 12,000 likes for parodying the Brat trend.