Piggybacking on the success that sites like the New York Times has had with Wordle and that Vulture has had with Cinematrix, businesses across the digital landscape have increasingly been embracing video games, even when the fit might be a curious one. 

Netflix has spent an estimated $1 billion to build out its gaming unit. YouTube has gone from hosting videos about video games to letting people play them on its platform. LinkedIn, SlingTV, and Hulu now offer them as well, to mixed results.

Thinking of giving your PlayStation the day off and don’t feel like a round of Roblox? Here’s how the new tier of unusual game sites rank:

1) Netflix

In terms of variety and play ability, Netflix Games is far and away the winner in this crop of companies. The company’s investment has given it the rights to such console classics as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—The Definitive Edition, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Tomb Raider: Reloaded, as well as popular mobile games including Bloons and Cut the Rope. (All the games that Netflix offers come as their own separate apps, which must be downloaded to be played.)

The original games, tied to Netflix IP, stand out, though. The electronic version of card game Exploding Kittens is incredibly addictive; The Queen’s Gambit Chess is a fun chess game that also offers lessons and chess-based puzzles; and Stranger Things: 1984 is an 8-bit dungeon crawl/action title (while Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales incorporates more recent plotlines of the show, such as Vecna).

Yes, you can find several of these offerings in other places—and they’re hardly enough to justify a subscription to Netflix. But in terms of variety and playability, this is top of the class for unexpected gaming sites.

2) SlingTV

Commercials are a pain, but they’re often unavoidable, especially if you’re watching live television. But what if you could bypass the Honey Bunches of Oats pitch for a game of Centipede? Dish Network’s SlingTV Arcade lets you play a variety of classic games. Also included are Tetris, Doodle Jump, Wheel of Fortune, and Texas Hold ‘Em. You can save your progress—and play the games as you keep an eye on the channel, letting you dive back into your show when it returns.

You’ll need to access SlingTV via Amazon Fire TV or Android TV to get to the arcade, which limits the audience. But the game choices are solid (if dated), and they put you in control of what you’re focusing on as you lounge on the couch.

3) YouTube

YouTube Playables has a limited, but familiar, collection of titles. Cut the Rope is here (as well as on Netflix), and playable on both PC and mobile. Also offered: Draw Climber and 8 Ball Billiards Classic—both of which chew up more time than you realize. Some of the other games, including Adorable Home and Find the Alien, were dull, though—and if you happen to be playing on a PC, be prepared to turn your speakers down, as there’s no in-game volume control.

There are elements that work, but it feels more like an afterthought for the streaming site.

4) LinkedIn

You’ve only got three options here, but the fact that LinkedIn has any games at all is pretty incredible. That all three are worthy of your time is even more surprising. 

Crossclimb, which has you pick a list of words that vary by a single letter, was a personal favorite, but I’m partial to word games. Pinpoint, a trivia-category guessing game, is also well done. Queens is for the math-based player. All scratch the Wordle itch, taking just a few moments of your day and drawing some players back on a regular basis, but it’s not a site where you can have any sort of extended retreat from responsibilities (which might be the point). 

5) Hulu

Technically, Hulu doesn’t have a games page, but Disney has started to sprinkle playable ads throughout the site (and on ESPN+). There are two options, and both are . . . fine, if hardly engaging. The real sin, though, is if players find they really enjoy one of the options, they can’t call it up at will. They’ll have to wait for that ad to come up again in the streaming service’s rotation before they can play another time. 

---