Telegram has launched a long-expected game platform. Telegram games are a predicted logical development of a platform for third party developers which was implemented a year or so ago. Currently, about 30 applications are available. Most of them are represented by a social game platform developed by a Czech company Gamee. It is possible to find them by starting a dialogue with the @gamee bot. Several demo-versions are available in a dialogue with the @gamebot – a personal Telegram game bot.
How to launch Telegram games?
You can text the @gamee or @gamebot bots directly, or address them in any chat. The @gamee bot offers playing any random battle game, choosing from the top of the most popular or last played ones, or selecting a mode where you can battle against your friend. In the @gamebot menu, a mode for competing with friends is only available. In order to choose a game, type the name of a bot in the text field and then opt for a game from a resulting menu or just type the name of the required one.
How to compete with friends?
It is possible to share a game link with the necessary private or group chat using a bot. As of today, a group mode involves only monitoring your progress and comparing all interlocutors’ results. However, this platform allows creating practically all HTML5 games on basis of Telegram API. In the near future, the multiplayer battles are supposed to appear. In this case, you will get a chance to completely immerse yourself in the competition with your friends.
Which devices are required for playing?
On a smartphone, the games are launched in Telegram native browser. For launching them, iOS 4 and higher or Android 4.4 and higher are needed, including messenger version 3.13 and higher. In a desktop program, the games are opened in your default browser.
Applications review
So, what are these games? Letʼs have a closer look at them. We will take Hexatrion and Speed Driver from the @gamee bot as an example.
Hexatrion is a real treasure for puzzle and brain-twister lovers. The players face the challenge of collecting color stripes in lines by turning a central hexahedron. In order to do this, it is necessary to press grey navigation buttons located at the bottom of the display. When more than two one-color elements are collected in a line or a column, they disappear with a bang. A player can press pause at any time he wants. As for background music, it contributes to dipping into in a flow state – it is highly possible to lose track of time due to this puzzle.
Speed Driver is a representative of racing games. The maneuvering around obstacles is carried out by means of the graphic right-left buttons. The collisions come with appropriate sounds. In a group mode, the scores of all players appear in a general chat after racing is finished.
Each Telegram user can choose a game to his liking even from few ones available at the moment.
What is an advantage of Pavel Durovʼs messenger games over the ordinary smartphone ones?
Telegram games do not require the installation of additional utilities in the device memory. They use cache memory of a messenger itself for portion-wise data upload as the necessity arises. The device memory is saved which results in higher operation speed.
Social constituent. A possibility of competing with your friends without leaving a chat is really impressive. For example, Viber games involve not built-in utilities but ordinary links for installing them from the market.
No advertisement. According to messenger rules, the developers are not allowed to integrate any advertisement into their products. For making profit, an individual monetization system is being developed.
Which are the prospects?
The in-built applications of Pavel Durovʼs messenger use HTML5 technology and can enable sounds and animation. It will be enough for the developers simply to integrate the existing HTML5 applications into Telegram. In fact, these HTML5 games are similar to HTML-pages. An application can be not a game in the conventional sense but any interactive script. It opens infinite possibilities for a game platform development in future. The current API allows porting in the well known and all-liked 8 and 16-bit arcades even now. That is why the users may expect their appearance as early as the several coming months. Besides, API platform has lots of developers now. So, the new games are supposed to appear in the next 2-3 months.
You can text the @gamee or @gamebot bots directly, or address them in any chat. The @gamee bot offers playing any random battle game, choosing from the top of the most popular or last played ones, or selecting a mode where you can battle against your friend. In the @gamebot menu, a mode for competing with friends is only available. In order to choose a game, type the name of a bot in the text field and then opt for a game from a resulting menu or just type the name of the required one.
Speed Driver is a representative of racing games. The maneuvering around obstacles is carried out by means of the graphic right-left buttons. The collisions come with appropriate sounds. In a group mode, the scores of all players appear in a general chat after racing is finished.
Each Telegram user can choose a game to his liking even from few ones available at the moment.
