Last 16th (US local time), Microsoft officially announced “Games for Work,” where casual games can be played within Teams, a collaboration tool for companies.
Play 4 titles: Solitaire (Microsoft Solitaire), Minesweeper (Microsoft Minesweeper), Microsoft IceBreakers, and Wordament with up to 250 colleagues.
This has been rumored by tech outlet The Verge for months. When it was reported that games such as Minesweeper and Solitaire, which were once feared to destroy workplace productivity (although there is no objective statistical data), would be incorporated into Teams, it was thought to be a joke, but it was officially announced. It's up to you.
According to MS, the purpose is to "connect with colleagues through play." A Brigham Young University study found that teams who played a short video game together were 20% more productive than those who participated in traditional team-building activities.
Players compete against each other in solitaire, and it's a game of Gachinko aiming for first place at the top. On the other hand, Minesweeper is a collaborative effort in which teams work on a single board, and each player can step on (click) as many mines as they have lives.
.webp "Microsoft integrates \"work games\" into Teams. Play Solitaire or Minesweeper with up to 250 players")
In addition, Wordament aims to train the brain with word challenges and create healthy teamwork. Up to 250 simultaneous plays are supported, and it seems that it will be difficult to fully participate. Finally, IceBreakers is a new team that doesn't know each other and answers specific questions. It's a way to start a conversation and get to know each other.
These four games were developed in collaboration with the Microsoft Casual Games team, a division of Xbox Game Studios. I would like to expect more full-fledged games to appear, but if it is a battle royale game, it may cause cracks in human relationships rather than the unity of the team, and there may be a heated debate within MS. Hmm.
** Image: Microsoft