How to Play New Built-in Zoom Games Instead of Running
We all jumped on the group train of video games early on in our transition to telecommuting – and while Jackbox parties are a pretty poor substitute for “chatting” with our coworkers (as well as family and friends), they are at least slightly better than hours of endless Zoom meetings dedicated solely to work.
Surprisingly, it took Zoom over a year of virtual work around the world to integrate games directly into the platform, but the recently launched Zoom Apps Marketplace has several built-in options – like Heads Up, Poker and Trivia – you can install and play during meetings or happy hours.
How to install games from Zoom Apps
One caveat when using Zoom apps: If you are not the account owner (for example, your account is part of an organization and not a personal one), you may need to have administrator pre-approval to install and use the apps.
- Make sure you have the latest version of the Zoom desktop app installed and open. If you have a personal account, you should see an application icon on the top taskbar.
- Switch to Discover and select the game you want to play. (Note that apps are not yet classified or searchable.) Click the Add button, which will redirect you to a browser page to authorize the app.
- Once you have installed the game, you will be returned to your desktop application. All enabled applications will appear in the My Applications tab.
- To start the game, click Open> Start Meeting or Copy Invitation to share the link. Alternatively, you can join a regular meeting and switch to the Apps tab at the bottom of the meeting screen to start playing.
If you don’t see the Apps tab in Zoom, you may not have the latest version or required permissions.
- Go to the Zoom app store and select Games from the list of app categories.
- Select the game you want to install. If you are not already signed in to Zoom, click the blue Sign In to Install button. From there, you will see the option ” Visit site to install” or ” Request pre-approval” .
- If you can install without administrator approval, you will be redirected to the next screen to authorize the application and launch Zoom on your desktop, where you will follow the steps listed above.