LinkedIn, a Microsoft-owned professional networking platform, has expanded its casual games collection, releasing a miniature version of Sudoku to its 1.2 billion users. The game launched on Tuesday, and it is available in the LinkedIn mobile app, taking less than 15 minutes to complete, unlike the classical 9×9 Sudoku grid.
According to Lakshman Somasundaram, senior director of product at Microsoft, told CNBC that the game would be targeting to provide light diversion rather than be a time sink. “We do not want to have a puzzle on LinkedIn that takes 20 minutes to solve,” he said. “We are not games for games’ sake.”
The mini Sudoku was developed in collaboration with Nikoli, the Japanese company credited with popularizing Sudoku. In early 2024, the LinkedIn team visited Tokyo to discuss the idea and used a translator to explain. Another participant of the project was Thomas Snyder, known as Dr. Sudoku, a three-time World Sudoku Champion and PhD in Chemistry.
To access the game, mobile phone users need to install a LinkedIn application on their phones. Once launched, a swipe to the right of the home page will show the “Puzzle Games” tab carries the new Sudoku.
LinkedIn says that its library of thinking-focused games is developed to bring people closer together. “One of the best ways to deepen and reignite relationships at work is simply by having fun together,” the company noted.
