I would love to have been in on the pitch meeting for this one.

LinkedIn has confirmed it is currently working on a new in-app games element which will enable LinkedIn users to play puzzle games in the app, with their scores then added to their company's performance for competitive corporate rankings. LinkedIn is currently working to create a new gaming platform in-stream, which will include achievements, streaks, rankings, etc.

Currently LinkedIn is in development of three games: "Queens", "Crossclimb" and "Inference."
 game UI will show statistics of how many of your contacts have played, and a company's ranking in the leaderboard to create a desire to participate.

The games themselves, as noted, are simple, puzzle-type games, which may also be viewed as a way to prove your business's intellectual superiority, and you can already imagine that some brands will use their LI games rank to pitch clients on their collective genius.

LinkedIn confirmed the project to TechCrunch, saying that:

"We're experimenting with a series of puzzle-based games within the LinkedIn experience to unlock a little bit of fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully spark the opportunity for conversations."

LinkedIn hasn't said a word about public testing, but based on the leaked UI, it seems pretty close to final.

Does LinkedIn gaming make sense?

Look, it does seem a bit jarring, a bit arbitrary, and really, quite overtly an attempt to drive more time spent in the app.

But also, it will likely succeed.

You can envision lots of people probably testing out those puzzle games, and adding on competitive ranking you get employees who feel a sense of loyalty to the employer, and a kind of compulsion to participate.

Although it is yet unclear how that ranking will pan out. Whether one employee is attached to a business or any other number, does that mean that whatever score that employee gets is what ranks or is the score diluted based on the number of staff registered in the app?

However it works, it makes sense for LinkedIn to experiment with games, and while it may seem a bit of a stretch to learn how to code HTML, it'll also be another element that'll help increase its current "record levels of engagement".

But does it align with the platform's broader mission to "connect the world's professionals to economic opportunity"?

I mean, probably not, but so long as those engagement numbers go up, it's all good. Right?