October 4, 2016 - 16:55 AMT
Telegram puts games right into chats

The messaging app Telegram has this week added a very simple, highly addictive new ability: games. It’s delivered via a new @GameBot account, which lets users either play by myself or link up directly to a friend and compete at achieving the highest score, The Verge reports.

Starting off small with just three games from its GameBot, Telegram is prioritizing quality over quantity. Corsairs is a fun object-dodging game, MathBattle forces you to do mental arithmetic against a timer, and Lumberjacks is a hugely satisfying away to kill time while chopping trees. There’s also a bunch more games from Telegram partner Gamee, and "hundreds" more are promised.

To play Telegram’s new games, you’ll need at least an iPhone 4 or an Android 4.4 device along with the latest version of the app, v3.13.