First, Farmville and Candy Crush paved the way for Facebook’s gradual transition towards becoming a hub for all forms of entertainment. Then in 2014, the world was gifted the standalone Messenger app, complete with those annoying user bubbles. Now, Facebook is merging its worlds by testing out games for Messenger with the unfortunately named Doodle Draw. For all intents and purposes, the game is a direct copy of Draw Something (which is a direct copy of Pictionary) which, if you don’t remember, is a game that everyone was playing for about two weeks back in 2012. Doesn’t seem like FB is super on-point with this one.
You have to download Doodle Draw from the App Store and it then integrates into your Facebook Messenger account. You can then send the pictures you have drawn directly to any of your Facebook friends or post the image to your wall and let your friends guess the word you’ve drawn.
There are already over thirty apps that add all kinds of custom content to Messenger, but Doodle Draw is their first game for the platform. The problem is that the game isn’t new, its just another Pictionary app and the trend has come and gone. Besides, the existing apps can fulfil people’s desire to draw pictures and guess what they are without descending into cringe-inducing oversharing on socials.
Also, what’s with that name? It sounds like someone trying to describe a Death Grips album cover to their grandma without shocking her too much.
It seems that Facebook is testing the game concept by using a game style which has been hugely successful in the past and seeing how users react. If they commit to games, it could work, but we don’t see it taking off with this one alone. It’s clear that the introduction of games within Messenger is intended to increase the amount of time that users are spending within the Facebook platform which could work to their benefit for a number of reasons, especially as younger people are becoming less and less incentivised to sign up to the platform. It’s a plan that makes total sense in theory. Personally, if games take over Facebook Messenger, I’ll just be using WhatsApp a lot more.
[Via.]
More Tech
The Coolest Shit From Apple’s WWDC 2015
Reddit Bans Hateful Communities
Watch: State-Of-The-Art Rescue Robots Having a Hard Time Getting Their Shit Together