This article was published on November 29, 2016

Facebook’s Instant Games lets you play from your News Feed


Facebook games are pretty much the epitome of casual gaming, but now the company is making it easier to play than ever – including right from Messenger and News Feed.

Instant Games allow you to to tap on a title and start playing immediately, no download or extensive app set-up required. The’re based on HTML5 – basically minimal browser games – allowing them to load quickly.

instant-games-facebook-2-messenger

On Messenger, you’ll see a new controller icon under your typing area, where you can select a title, view leaderboards, participate in group conversations with other players and more. Instant Games are also hitting your News Feed though, letting discover new games more easily via your friends’ posts and challenges.

There are 17 games to start, including some retro classics like Pac-Man, Galaga, Space Invaders and Track & Field 100M. Then there are modern titles like Words with Friends too.

pacman-games-messenger

Much like Instant Articles did for news, the simplicity and speed of Instant Games will likely get more people to playing Facebook titles. Personally, there have a been a few titles I’ve been casually interested in, but never enough to bother downloading and configure sharing settings. Instant Games might just make it easy enough for me to overcome my reservations.

Instant Games goes live today in 30 countries on iOS and Android. Developers looking to sign up for the closed beta can learn more here.

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