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You might not think of Netflix as a gaming company, but games are most certainly a part of their business. While the vast majority of us Netflix subscribers simply stream TV shows and movies on the app, the company also offers access to games, free of charge as part of a Netflix plan. These aren’t all throwaway titles, either: Netflix has licensed some notable names here, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Oxenfree, and Heads Up!
But while Netflix’s games have largely been mobile-only for the past few years, the company is trying something new. This week, Netflix is rolling out games you can play on your TV, all without having to leave the Netflix app. You don’t need a dedicated gaming controller, or to rely on something like a TV remote, to play. Instead, players control the game from their smartphones. What a time to be alive.
At launch, you can’t simply play any of Netflix’s existing mobile titles on your TV. Instead, the company has licensed five party games that weren’t yet part of its games library, designed to be played with others around the TV. These titles include:
What do you think so far?
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LEGO Party!: This is Mario Party but with LEGOs, complete with mini-games, maps, and LEGO characters.
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Boggle Party: Up to eight players can try to find words in a jumbled letter grid.
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Pictionary: Game Night: Guess what the other person is drawing before the time runs out.
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Tetris Time Warp: Play different versions of Tetris, including the 1984 original and the classic Gameboy version.
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Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends: One person in the group is the odd one out, and doesn’t know what anyone else is talking about. The group needs to figure out who that person is.
LEGO Party! and Tetris Time Warp are both preexisting games you can play on other platforms, but it seems the other three are making their debut on Netflix.
How to play Netflix games on your TV
To try out any of these fives games when they’re available in your market, open the Netflix app on your smart TV, then scroll to the “Games” tab. Choose a game, then use your smartphone as the controller.
