LinkedIn Now Has Wordle-style Games You Can Play Every Day

LinkedIn, the professional network known for job listings and unsolicited career advice, is jumping into gaming. From a report: The platform is officially introducing a set of Wordle-style puzzle games, weeks after they were first spotted in the app. The company is starting with three games: Pinpoint, a word game where players must guess the theme that ties a series of words together; Queens, a puzzle game that's a bit like a cross between Sudoku and Minesweeper; and Crossclimb, a trivia game that involves guessing a series of four-letter words and placing them in the correct order.

LinkedIn describes them as "thinking-oriented games," though the format will likely look familiar to fans of The New York Times Games app. Each game can only be played once a day, and players can share their score with friends in cute emoji-filled messages reminiscent of the "Wordle grid." The service will also keep track of "streaks," to encourage players to come back every day. Given the similarities, it shouldn't be surprising that games were developed by LinkedIn's news team, which recently hired a dedicated games editor.

Talk about late to the party

[HBI]

The time for a Wordle-style game was 2021.

Why?

[cruff]

LinkedIn purportedly isn't a gaming company.

Their owner can merge them with xbox

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe their parent company thinks LinkedIn should be folded in under Xbox, Activision, Blizzard, or one of the other divisions they already own.

Re:Why?

[JamesTRexx]

I removed my account years ago for a different reason, but if I hadn't I would have surely done it now because I can't take a job network seriously when it adds a lot of unrelated nonsense to it.

The rethorical question is why can't sites stick to the one thing they're made for and not add fluff over time?
Yes, I do know the various answers, but it makes me shake my head each time and sigh melancholicly at the old dial-up days.

Re:

[HBI]

The business unit inside Microsoft is under pressure for numbers. So they are throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Re:

[UnknowingFool]

This makes the most sense to me.
MS: You need to increase your clicks and revenue. Do whatever you need to get your numbers up.
LinkedIn Devs (jokingly): How about games?
MS: Whatever. Get those numbers up.

Great for managers

[Speare]

Timestamps and high score leaderboards make layoff planning so much easier.

Could have done better

[Anonymous Coward]

They could at least have been clever and made an addictive Golf game called LinksIn.

That's interesting to know /s

[Mirnotoriety]

I can remember when slashdot was a tech forum /s

Maybe it needs a Wordle game too

[thesjaakspoiler]

One with +7 letter tech words because we wouldn't like to see the plebs flooding our favorite site.

Really?

[PPH]

Because that's what I really need on my CV: Plays on-line games 6 hours a a day instead of working.

Besides, that will cut into my "sitting at my work PC, shitposting on Slashdot" time.

As a certified Minesweeper expert

[thesjaakspoiler]

with a Microsoft certification for Solitaire as well I can tell for sure that this will make all the difference during job interviews.

They have forgotten their purpose

[Kreela]

Linkedin have been pushing collaborative articles created with AI for some time now even though everybody hates them. They also suggest AI rewrites to "enhance" your profile, even though it does the opposite. Adding games is another step in prioritising eyeballs over what makes the site useful and valuable, and it will backfire. And that's a shame because even though the site can be cringy, it has some decent tech courses and worthwhile networking opportunities in certain fields.