Work and pleasure are often like water and oil, which are hardly mixed. However, LinkedIn has tried to break the laws of physics (labor) integrating a series of games into a social network very focused on the professional and workplace.
At first that squeak a little slide through the timelineFrom LinkedIn hoping to find publications of a former partner who has changed jobs, or that a company is looking for candidates to cover a vacancy and, suddenly, Zas! A publication in which your co -worker presumes to have achieved the maximum score in a game. But, we hadn’t come to talk about work?
Surprisingly, the play of integrating games is working very well.
You do networking, you are looking for a job or … you start a game
In May 2024, the company announced the integration of a series of free games accessible to all users registered on the platform. However, we talk about a corporate platform, so its focus is not offers triple A games, but maintain their productive spirit.
From LinkedIn they point out that the objective of his social network “has always been to connect professionals around the world to make them more productive and successful. And, like the work world has changed in the last 22 years since the creation of LinkedIn, This has also done the way people connect with each other. “
This change of habits in communication and in the way of facing the working day has served as a support lever so that the social network pivotes towards a more playful approach. “The objective of LinkedIn games is to encourage professionals to take a short break from work and stimulate their mind, while motivating them to connect with others,” they point out from the company.
A recreation for the brain
The LinkedIn games catalog is not very extensive. It is limited to four simple titles at a graphic level, but that propose different challenges at the mental level and a good dose of cognitive skills. Among the games that LinkedIn has integrated are:
- Crossclimb: A question and answers game in which you have to use clues to correctly guess each word of the stairs. The goal is to form groups of words based on tracks, in which only one letter differs with the previous word. Once you have organized the correct sequence of words, the clues will be unlocked for the beginning and end words. And the challenge is to decipher the words as quickly as possible.
- Pinpoint: It is a word association game in which you should try to guess (or “locate”) the common category or theme that unites a set of words. There are five clues to find out this common category. The challenge is to guess the category with the least possible number of revealed tracks.
- Queens: It is a logic game in which you have to fill in the grid so that there is only one crown per row, column and color region, not being able to coincide with any other crown of the attached segments.
- Tango: It has been the last game to join LinkedIn, and it is a logic game where you must fill a grid making sure that each row and column contains the same number of soles as moons. The complication is that there can be no more than two soles or adjacent moons, neither vertical nor horizontally.
But what do these games paint on LinkedIn?
According to Paolo Pasco, LinkedIn games editor The games seek to encourage the benefits of short pauses during the working day. “Various studies underline the importance of work pauses and cognitive benefits of the puzzles. Therefore, with our series of games we seek to offer professionals a space to make a brief pause and revitalize their mind. “
An investigation by the University of Exeter and the King’s College in London discovered the memory benefits that the crosswords, sudokus and other types of puzzles contribute such as those proposed by LinkedIn in its recreational offer.
Therefore, this can be a good way to foster a state of rambling that leads to its “playground” in which abstract concepts and knowledge are connected to generate new ideas.
“It’s curious how something as simple as a game can be the impulse we need to return to energy with energy, desire to learn, connect and talk to others,” said Pasco.
The fact of Improve cognitive abilitiessuch as the attention, concentration and mental flexibility, together with the social component that the social network provides, they make the games become a more socialization component between professionals or among classmates of the same office, breaking the ice in interpersonal relationships in The work spaces.
According to a Yougov survey, puzzles and puzzle games are the most popular among users in the US, ahead of card games, action or adventure. Within these data, the puzzles were preferred, by far, by LinkedIn users, so it is not strange that the social network has chosen to integrate them into its platform.
LinkedIn is still a business
Beyond the productive and induction component to labor interactions with the excuse of competitiveness in the games, the introduction of this new section on LinkedIn also Pursues an economic interest.
In this sense, LinkedIn has followed the steps of The New York Times, which only a few months before also integrated a section of games in its application, continuing with Wordle’s success.
As he counted Axiosthe games have allowed the New York Times to stabilize the number of subscribers to their platform, while the figures of the rest of their competition chopped. He Financial Times Estimate with the implementation of these games on LinkedIn, a “record commitment” of 1.5 million content interactions per minute in June 2024 had been recorded.
The LinkedIn Games Rachas system fosters the daily visit and sharing the results, so the return of users and their active participation in the platform increases, even if it is only for a few minutes a day. That brief activity is enough to grow the value of the LinkedIn advertising business.
It is working
Whatever the reason for their arrival on the professional platform, the truth is that LinkedIn games have been very well received. From the social network they ensure that “as of October 2024, we have seen a 20% increase in the commitment of the new players every week, with a very strong retention.”
According to the data provided by the social network, 80% of the players return the day after trying a game, while 76% play a week later. The most active markets in this activity are USA, India and the United Kingdom. The use of these games is growing in countries such as Türkiye, France and Brazil.
The players who share their results are, in large part, responsible for the success of these games. According to LinkedIn, 40 % of the new players discover the games through a shared link through a publication or message shared by another person who is talking about the games.
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Image | LinkedIn
