Facebook Messenger Gets Its First Game, Doodle Draw

Last month we heard that Facebook Messenger is actively working on hosting games in its app. Now, it does. Released for Android and iOS, Draw Something for Messenger functions on Facebook's Messenger Platform, which was opened to third-party developers back in March.

Doodle Draw for Messenger is the first game launched for the Facebook Messenger platform, and it is currently available to download in select regions from Google Play and App Store. Users can also download the game by tapping on the three-dot 'More' option in the Messenger app. Before this, the chatting app only featured content creation, sharing, and curated content apps on the platform.

The game should be familiar with those who have already played 'Draw Something' video game as Doodle Draw features the same user interface, gameplay style and more. The game suggests users something to draw, which the users can scribble out and send to a Facebook Messenger contact. The friend then would have to guess what the user has drawn. Earning more points while playing would let users get access to more colours.

As reported by TechCrunch, the Doodle Draw for Messenger at the time of launch let users earn in-game currency by inviting their friends to play with them, which could lead to the spam that games like Candy Crush saga were causing in a big way before Facebook tweaked its algorithms. Doodle Draw developer Clay.io however removed the feature soon after. Doodle Draw for Messenger weighs 4MB and runs on Android 4.0/iOS 6.0 and later OS versions.

Facebook on Wednesday announced that an Android version of its Messenger app has been downloaded more than a billion times from the Google Play store. It is worth noting that both Facebook and Google boast 1 billion app downloads on Google Play.