TikTok has gone through a lot of changes recently, especially since American companies took majority stake in the company. But while users have had to understand new terms of service, some of which raise alarm bells, they’ve also had to grapple with some seamless adjustments. Case in point: TikTok now has a game built right into your DMs. You just need to know where to find it.
TikTok told TechCrunch about the game on Tuesday. While you might assume the gameplay has something to do with TikTok itself – short-form videos, influencers, etc. – the game itself is a very basic platformer. In fact, it strongly “looks like”Doodle Jump,” if you’ve ever played it on your iPhone or Android. The goal is simple: Your “character” automatically bounces, and you drag left or right on the screen to try to make it bounce onto moving crocodile platforms. If you fall, you lose. If you land on a skeleton instead of a crocodile, you lose. Otherwise, you keep going up and up, racking up more and more points until You can also hit a speed boost to advance through the game for a few seconds.
The game can be played alone or against other players. Since this game is hidden in DM, you can play against your friends one-on-one or in group chat. When you start a game, your “character” icon is actually your friend’s profile picture, which is a fun touch.
How to Play TikTok’s Hidden DM Game
If you go to DM with a friend, you won’t actually have any indication that you can play the game. To make it work, you have to send an emoji—any emoji. When you do this, you’ll see small text at the bottom of the thread that reads: “Tap the emoji to play the emoji game.” Do this, and the game will launch. The strange thing is that the emoji you send turns into a speed boost that sometimes appears throughout your game.
What do you think so far?
TikTok isn’t the only social media app to offer hidden DM games. Instagram launched its own version two years ago. This can also be achieved by sending an emoji, which in turn decides the emoji-theme of the game.
