Facebook Messenger has now the perfect feature to make you kill your productive time; a hidden basketball game inside the application.
The new feature was introduced in an update to the messaging app on iPhone and Android on Thursday. This game involves a simple interface reminiscent of the smartphone classic Paper Toss and requires you to flick a basketball into a hoop. The game resets your score if you miss a basket, moves the ball’s starting position around and the hoop will begin to move if you rack up a streak of 10 or more.
Here is how you can access the game.
- If you haven’t updated the app, do so now.
- Send a basketball emoji to a contact, or yourself.
- Tap the emoji once it has sent and the app will open the game.
- Score as many successful shots as you can in a row and the counter will restart if you miss.
There is more to this game, as if you are playing against a contact, a message will appear in the conversation box showing who has the highest score.
This is not the first game that has made its way into Facebook’s Messenger application. A secret chess game can be activated if you type “@fbchess play” into a conversation with somebody. You will need to input written commands for directing the pieces around the board.
However, this feature is not available for those who use the Facebook Messenger inside the browser window or the sleeker Messenger.com. The game will be available only on the Android and iOS apps on the respective mobile devices.
If you are unable to access the game, do check if you are on the most recent version of the Messenger. If not, update the app and try again. Make sure to share your high-score in the comments below as well.
