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Snapchat is making new lenses with built-in games

Snapchat is making new lenses with built-in games

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Snap wants its users to play games with their friends in Snapchat. The company’s launching new lenses today, called “Snappables,” that let users play games through touch, motion, or facial expressions.

The games sound similar to Snapchat’s Cuphead lens, which let you treat your friends as bosses to destroy. Wired reports that users can add friends to a rock band, challenge them to an emoji dance-off, or play basketball. You can see some of them in the video above. One person plays a Space Invaders-like game, another appears to be blowing bubbles, and another raises her eyebrows to lift a virtual barbell. New Snappables will be released every week, Snap says.

Snap clearly wants to differentiate itself and prove how much more users can do on its platform versus on any other social network. The games look like fun time-sucks, but I don’t think they’ll bring people to the platform. Instead, they seem neat for people who already live in the app with friends.

Instagram, Snap’s biggest competitor, hasn’t yet introduced games into its app or really invested in AR filters to the level that Snap has. Still, Facebook already features in-platform games that it could potentially port over to Instagram.