Telegram launches bot-powered Gaming Platform, so you can play inside your chats

Telegram, the messenger application that promises users end-to-end encryption, has just been updated with a new feature that will allow fans to play games within their chats. The announcement mentions the addition of a new bot-powered Gaming Platform, so you can use bots to play games, which are complete with graphics and sound.

For the time being, there are 30 games that you can play within Telegram chats, but hundreds more are expected to arrive in the coming months. In order to start playing games, you must interact with their bot directly, or using the inline mode by typing “@gamee” in a group and choosing a game to start playing with your friends.

Obviously, you can play these games solo, but if you find one that you think you're better at, you can definitely challenge your friends from other chats by sharing it with them. According to Telegram, the new Gaming Platform saves high scores for every game played in every chat, so you check out how you and your friends are doing against each other. You can even set Telegram to notify you when there's a new leader in a certain game that you follow.

For those who want to build games for Telegram's new Gaming Platform, it's worth mentioning that it usually take a couple of hours to develop a game using the API made available by Telegram.

Of course, if you want to build a more complex game with advanced graphics, you will need more time, but that's for everyone to decide. The team behind Telegram also confirmed that the games that you can play in chats will work on iPhones 4 and newer, as well as Android 4.4 device or later.

Another requirement for the bot-powered Gaming Platform is for you to run Telegram version 3.13 or higher, if you want to play games in chats.