Challenge your friends to beat your high score.
Key Takeaways
- To play Instagram's secret game, send an emoji in a DM and tap it. Slide the paddle to keep the emoji bouncing.
- You have a single high score which is tracked across all emojis and DMs.
- You can use any emoji to play, some of which alter the gameplay or transform into other emojis.
If you don't feel like you waste enough of your time on Instagram, you need to check out the secret emoji game available on Android and iPhone. It's a simple yet addictive game in the style of Pong, where you control a paddle to keep an emoji flying across your screen.
How to Play the Instagram Emoji Game
To play Instagram's emoji game, open a DM with someone and send an emoji—any emoji you like, but just a single one with no accompanying text (and not an emoji reaction either). Then tap the emoji and the game begins immediately.
Slide your finger across the screen to control the paddle at the bottom. Your aim is to use the paddle to keep the emoji bouncing; you score a point for every bounce. If you miss and the emoji hits the bottom of the screen, it's game over.
As your score increases, the background color changes and the emoji moves quicker, so keep focused.
Close
Your high score is tracked and displays in the top-right of the game. This is persistent across all emojis and DMs, meaning you only have one high score. The downside is that no-one else can see your high score, so you'll need to screenshot and share it to prove your prowess.
Also, Instagram doesn't show any notification that the game exists or that you're playing it, so tell your friend why you sent them an emoji and challenge them to beat your score.
Instagram Emoji Game Tips and Easter Eggs
Looking to beat your high score? You might find that your finger gets in the way at the bottom of the screen, making it difficult to see precisely where the emoji is going to hit. A handy tip is that you can put your finger anywhere on the screen to control the paddle. Turn your phone horizontal and slide your finger on the side opposite to the paddle; this gives the clearest view.
The game is also packed full of charming Easter eggs. You can play the game with any emoji, some of which tweak the gameplay. For example, 👽 randomly teleports around the screen, 👻 fades in and out, and 👹 is ridiculously fast.
There are even emojis that transform as your score increases, like 🥚 which hatches into a chick, 👶 which grows into an adult, and 🐛 which becomes a butterfly.
See what other secrets you can discover! Perhaps the skull emoji drops bones as it hits the paddle…
Facebook Messenger used to have fun basketball and soccer emoji games, so Meta (owners of Messenger and Instagram) aren't newcomers to secret gaming experiences. The two games were scrapped eventually, but hopefully Instagram's one will stick around.
