LinkedIn has rolled out three “thinking-oriented” games as part of the LinkedIn News division.
For director of product management Lakshman Somasundaram, the pivot to LinkedIn games is all about “connection.”
“LinkedIn’s mission has always been to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful,” he said in a press release. “And, as the world of work has shifted in the last 20 years since LinkedIn’s founding, so has the way people connect with each other.”
So, what games does LinkedIn have?
The three new LinkedIn games are Pinpoint, Queens, and Crossclimb. Pinpoint is a word association game in which users “pinpoint” (get it?) what the five words have in common.
Queens is what The Verge describes as “merely sudoku without numbers.” Users must place queens in a grid on each row without touching each other.
Lastly, Crossclimb is a hybrid of a trivia game, a crossword, and a word ladder. All of these LinkedIn games have daily editions, with users getting access to features like leaderboards and high scores.
What does this mean for LinkedIn creators?
This isn’t the only puzzling change that LinkedIn has made recently. In April, the platform announced it was testing a vertical video feed for creators, meaning a TikTok-style “For You Page” equivalent might be in the future.
Along with features like the ‘Discover’ feed and ‘Creator Mode’ tool, this suggests that LinkedIn is experimenting with new engaging formats for creators. But where does the addition of games fit into the creator economy?
The inclusion of games with LinkedIn News suggests that the platform is trying to evoke a New York Times (NYT) vibe. The NYT is known for its Crossword and Wordle games.
As influencer marketing expert Brendan Gahan put it, “We use LinkedIn and NYT to learn, read up on the news, and gain knowledge that may help us in our career and in life.” So perhaps games are just LinkedIn’s push toward an audience of users and creators who want to challenge their brains.
Further reading:
- LinkedIn Is Getting a ‘For You Page,’ for Some Reason
- A Successful LinkedIn Influencer Shares His Top Tips for Monetizing the Platform
- LinkedIn Launches a Podcast Network for Creators
