YouTube has started rolling out its Playables video games for everyone across Android, iOS, and desktop. The company said in a blog post that it"s expanding the availability of Playables over the coming months, so it might take some time for the games to arrive on your device.
You can find free-to-play Playables games in the Explore menu of the YouTube mobile app, accessible using the compass button in the top-left corner of the Home page. The video sharing giant turned gaming platform offers over 75 games you can play inside the YouTube app or its website.
In other words, you don"t have to go through the hassle of downloading and installing these games on your device. You can tap on any game card to start playing the game or share it with your friends by tapping the three-dot menu button.
YouTube"s Playables catalog lets you play popular titles, including Angry Birds Showdown, Words of Wonders, Cut The Rope, Tomb of Mask, and Trivia Crack. Note that if you"re on a desktop, you can access Playables games directly through a dedicated link.
The company"s dreams of becoming an online gaming platform were revealed about a year ago. YouTube later announced in September that it"s testing the video game experience with a limited number of premium users on Android, iOS, and desktop.
Finally, the Playables experimental feature was pulled in March this year with no word on whether it is gone for good or will arrive in a future update. It turns out, the latter was true.
YouTube Playables system requirements and saving progress
YouTube Playables mobile games can run on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox web browsers on your desktop, a support page reads. Meanwhile, you at least need the YouTube app version 18.33 on your iPhone running iOS 14 (or later) or your Android smartphone running Android 12 (or later). On smartphones running Android 8/8.1/9/10/11, the games will run only on 64-bit or high-memory 32-bit devices.
All the progress for the games you play on Playables gets tied to your YouTube account and synced across supported devices. This means that if you turn off your YouTube History, the games you play won"t be added to it.