Microsoft Teams Now Lets Users Play Minesweeper and Solitaire During Virtual Meetings

Microsoft has launched a new Games for Work app that allows users to play casual games during Teams meetings. The company announced this morning that the new app is only available for Microsoft Teams enterprise and education customers.

The Microsoft Casual Games team, a part of Xbox Game Studios, has built the new Games for Work app for Teams. It includes a collection of iconic interactive and multiplayer games such as Solitaire, Minesweeper, Wordament, and IceBreakers.

Microsoft is positioning games as a new way to improve cognitive development and foster communication between team members. For instance, the IceBreakers game can help employees get to know their coworkers during video calls. Moreover, Wordament is a mobile-friendly game that challenges users to find words among a grid of letters.

“Over 3 billion people around the world play games, serving a crucial role in bringing people together – especially during these last few years,” said Jill Braff, General Manager of Integrations and Casual Games, at Microsoft. “Games promote creativity, collaboration and communication in powerful and unique ways, and we can’t wait to see the how the Games for Work app on Microsoft Teams inspires productivity and helps foster connections in the workplace.”

It is important to note that IT admins will have to turn on access to apps in Microsoft Teams to let employees play these games in meetings. The Games for Work app is available in Teams on desktop and mobile devices.

Microsoft Teams to expand its collection of casual games in 2023

Microsoft Teams has been growing very fast during the past couple of years to meet the demands of this new hybrid work era. Microsoft keeps adding new features to spice up calls, such as Memoji-like 3D avatars for Together Mode.

Microsoft will keep listening to user feedback to add more games from partners into Teams in 2023. Do you think integrating casual games will create unnecessary distractions during Teams meetings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.