Adding to the existing set of numerous features inside Telegram, the company has launched a gaming platform within the messaging app powered by bots. Having introduced a feature-rich bot platform last year, users and developers got access to a powerful tool for customisation. The gaming platform will let users play HTML5 games within chats, complete with graphics and sound.
The inclusion of chatbots already existed in team collaboration apps and has now started transitioning into regular messaging services. The chatbots in Telegram enabled you to create custom notifications, connect external services, alarms and weather forecast alerts, and creating stickers which was quite a popular feature.
In order to play games with someone, all you need to do is enter ‘@gamebot’ in chat and a dropdown list of all the available games will show up. About 30 games have been already published under ‘@gamee’ and the interesting thing is that you’ll be able to play games in groups as well. For now, the demos available are basic but the company says that their API makes it easy to develop games across genres such as arcade, puzzles, multiplayer 3D shooters and even real-time strategy games. The games aren’t demanding enough (in terms of hardware) since they are HTML5-based, so you won’t require additional storage space for every game you play.
Telegram has made their gaming platform competitive so you can challenge your friends any time. High scores will be saved every time so that you can needle your friends about their low scores. Once you’ve played the game with others, you’ll be notified whenever someone takes over the leaderboard. There will be global leaderboards as well, so if you’re feeling competitive enough and have a lot of time to kill at work, go right ahead.
Gamebot support is extended to iPhone 4 and later, and on Android devices after Android 4.4. Make sure you download and update to Telegram 3.13 version from the following links: Android / iOS.