YouTube has opened out its Playables game service to all users.
Google’s online video service started dabbling with a free integrated gaming service of sorts back in September, before rolling the Playables service out in a limited fashion to YouTube Premium subscribers in November. That experimental run ended on March 28.
Now, exactly two months later, Playables is available to everyone. Visit the YouTube website on your chosen browser, or through the mobile app, and you’ll find the Playables game service listed on the Explore menu to the side.
Click on that and you’ll be taken to a roster of more than 75 free games – around double the amount it had when it rolled out to Premium users in November.
Don’t expect anything too in-depth or taxing. We’re talking about the kind of simple arcadey experiences that typified the early smartphone era. There are even versions of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope here, just to nail that 2010 vibe.
I had a quick blast on Angry Birds Showdown at the time of that initial limited launch, and after a brief loading screen it provided a stripped-back, windowed take on the classic game.
Straightforward as these games are, Google will keep track of your progress with them, so you can pick up where you left off, or attempt to beat your high-scores. Tap the three dot menu and you can share these games with your friends.
