Google+: The Missing Manual

Chapter 9. Playing Games

IT’S FUN TO WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS; share photos, links, and videos; and comment on others’ creations. But sometimes you just want to stack blocks and make them explode, or totally thrash your cousin in a game of Scrabble. The Games page of Google+ is where you can go to get a bit more interactive and competitive with your Google+ contacts. The games are free, easy to set up, and many of them don’t require a huge time commitment. You can start a game, play a few rounds on a break, then get back to your offline life. You’ll be notified when another player in the game makes their move so you can head back to that game, or any other, at your leisure.

Google+ games are pretty easy to start playing, as they should be, but there are a few tips and tricks that can make them easier to manage, and prevent their notifications from getting annoying. This chapter explains everything you need to know to start gaming on Google+—but you’re on your own when it comes to defending yourself against zombies or learning poker strategy.

Note

Games are the one major part of Google+ that hasn’t made it over to the mobile version yet, so you can’t get start or join games from either the Android or iPhone app, or the mobile-browser version. That may change, but for now, you can only play Google+ games in a computer’s web browser.

Getting into Games

YOU CAN GET TO the Games page right from the gray taskbar near the top of every Google+ page.

You can also get to the Games page by clicking ...