I have a guilty pleasure, not because I’ve re-watched “Glee” from start to finish (yes, even the horrible latter seasons), nor because I’ve read a ton of Harry Potter fan fiction.
One thing I enjoy doing guilt-free is playing LinkedIn games.
To answer the obvious question, wait, does LinkedIn have games? Yes. In May, LinkedIn released three puzzles via LinkedIn News. They are like imitations of the New York Times games. There is the logic puzzle Queens (my favorite), the word game Crossclimb (a pretty good puzzle), and the word association game Pinpoint (not a great game, but whatever).
LinkedIn is adopting a classic tech strategy of seeing what works for other companies and trying to replicate that success. Even if it seems odd to play games on a professional networking platform, it’s no wonder that NYT Games has been the inspiration. In a way, The New York Times is now a gaming company. As of December 2023, users spent more time on the NYT Games app than on the news app.
It’s not just LinkedIn. Everyone has a game now. Apple News, Netflix, YouTube. There are so many games we can enjoy. But after solving the New York Times puzzle, I want more. I’m not itching to play LinkedIn’s Crossclimb before Connections, but games are enough to give me a sweet dopamine rush.
I usually play LinkedIn games during work hours (sorry, my boss). Sometimes I go to LinkedIn to do fact-checking or research sources, but then I remember to take a few minutes to play a little game. Other times, I’ve been staring at a draft of an article for too long and my mind is wandering, so I take a break to solve a fancy Queen’s puzzle, and it’s easier to go back to Google Docs and face it again.
But it turns out there’s a scientific reason why we love these simple brain-teasing games that we only have to play once a day.
I recently spoke with Ryan Douglas, co-founder of DeepWell DTx, whose company is based on the idea that playing video games (in moderation) can help with mental health. In some cases, a brief distraction from gaming can help us break out of a negative thinking spiral or approach a problem from a new perspective.
“If you’re playing Tetris, for example, you can’t have a big conversation in your head about how bad you are, how bad you are, what’s going to happen next week,” Douglas told TechCrunch.
On a neuroscientific level, Douglas explains that when we play games, we activate the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for coping with stress. But even when these stressors are simulated, our brains become accustomed to coping with stress in a variety of ways.
“You start learning on a subconscious level, you start creating new neural pathways at an accelerated rate, and you start making subconscious choices about how you’re going to deal with these issues in the future,” he said. “When you deal with (stressors) in this particular environment, you take charge. You take control.”
This doesn’t mean we all have to play Pokemon all day long. DeepWell’s video game developer tools have been approved for therapeutic use in 15-minute sessions. Perhaps that’s why we’re all so fascinated by games like Wordle and others from The New York Times (and LinkedIn). These games have a set ending. You solve one puzzle a day and move on to the next.
Wordle creator Josh Wardle spoke to TechCrunch about his viral success before his game was acquired by The New York Times.
“I’m suspicious of apps and games that want your endless attention, like I did in Silicon Valley, and I know why they do it,” Wardle said. “I think people have a desire for things that don’t want anything from you.”
But Wardle is right. Of course, the LinkedIn game I love wants something from me. It’s my attention. To be honest, I’ve spent more time on LinkedIn in the past few months than I ever have.
According to LinkedIn’s own data, my behavior is not an anomaly. The company says it has seen about a 20% increase in new player engagement per week since early July. LinkedIn has also found a strong momentum among users who start conversations after playing a game. When you finish a game, you can see who in your connections has played the game, and some people seem to use this as a #networking opportunity. I don’t do that, but most of my conversations on LinkedIn are just texting my friends to say “hi.” For some reason, it’s fun for me.
So, go on LinkedIn, have fun, and after about 4 minutes, go back to the endless routine of global capitalism.
