As part of Microsoft's strategy to enhance engagement across its platforms, LinkedIn is making its foray into the gaming market. The professional networking site introduced three new puzzle games: Pinpoint, Queens, and Crossclimb. These games are now accessible to users worldwide via the LinkedIn website and mobile app.
The “thinking-oriented” games will be accessible on the My Network page on both mobile and desktop versions, as well as in the LinkedIn News area on the desktop. According to reports, LinkedIn's venture into gaming follows the immense success of the puzzle game Wordle. This success sparked numerous clones aiming to leverage the heightened user interest in word puzzles.
The New York Times has seen a notable increase in user engagement, time spent, and even digital subscriptions after acquiring Wordle in 2022. This surge in metrics has been attributed in part to the expansion of their game offerings.
LinkedIn games were also created by its News division, which just added a games editor, Paolo Pasco. As per The Hustle Daily, Pasco worked for the American Values Club puzzle, a subscription-based weekly puzzle, before joining LinkedIn. He was also this winner of this year’s Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Every day, users are allowed to play each game once and view which of their connections have participated in the activity. Leaderboards for the company and schools will also be included.
LinkedIn Games: Details on Pinpoint, Queens And Crossclimb
Pinpoint challenges players to identify the common category linking a series of words, with only one word revealed at a time, requiring strategic guessing to minimize guesses.
Queens is a logic game inspired by Sudoku, where players must place crowns on a grid, ensuring each row, column, and area contains only one crown, with no adjacent queens. A time limit adds to the challenge.
Crossclimb is a quiz game blending crossword puzzles and word ladders. Players fill the ladder using trivia and word knowledge, rearranging words so each differs by one letter. Solving reveals two final clues for victory.
