The professional network LinkedIn, well-known for its job postings and unsolicited career advice, is entering the gaming industry. A few weeks after they were initially noticed in the app, the platform is formally launching a series of Wordle-style puzzle games.
Three games will be available at launch from the company: Pinpoint, a word game in which players must determine the theme connecting a string of words; Queens, a puzzle game resembling a combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku; and Crossclimb, a trivia game in which players must determine a string of four-letter words and arrange them in the right order.
LinkedIn refers to them as “thinking-oriented games,” although users of The New York Times Games app are probably already familiar with the structure. Players may share their score with friends in adorable emoji-filled comments that are evocative of the “Wordle grid” and each game can only be played once per day. To entice gamers to return every day, the service would also monitor “streaks.” It should come as no surprise, considering the parallels, that games were created by LinkedIn’s news team—which just appointed a specialized games editor.
Games have been a boon for The New York Times since it acquired Wordle in 2022, and other publications have tried to emulate that success with their own lineup of word and puzzle games. I asked LinkedIn’s editor-in-chief and VP of Product Dan Roth if the company was inspired by the success of Wordle and the NYT’s Games app. He said that the inspiration was actually much older: “the very first crossword puzzle” in the New York World newspaper more than 100 years ago. He added that there aren’t currently plans for a standalone gaming app.
“These games aren’t designed to be just played,” Roth told Engadget. “We’re not getting into the gaming world to get into the gaming world. The idea is games that can help you think differently and connect with your network.”
You can try out the new games on LinkedIn.
