YouTube is introducing its latest gaming feature, Playables, to a broader audience in the US, U.K., Canada, and Australia. Playables are free, easy-to-play games that can be accessed directly within the YouTube app on both Android and iOS devices, as well as on the desktop web version.

– Playables can be discovered in various locations within the YouTube app. You may come across them as a carousel on the Home feed or explore them through the Explore navigation drawer located below the Podcasts hub. If you find a Playable that you love, you can save it for later and access it in the You tab under “Your movies & TV.”

These games cover a wide range of genres to suit different interests. With over 75 games available, users can enjoy action-packed adventures, sports challenges, brain-teasing puzzles, classic arcade fun, RPGs, board and card games, as well as trivia and word games. Popular titles include “Angry Birds Showdown,” “Words of Wonders,” “Cut The Rope,” “Tomb of the Mask,” and “Trivia Crack.”

YouTube Premium subscribers have an added bonus of uninterrupted background play for their current videos while muting game audio. However, for free users, game audio takes priority. Each Playable comes with user-friendly controls to exit the game, adjust audio settings, save progress, or access additional options through an overflow menu.

Initially introduced as an experiment, Playables is now expanding gradually with plans to reach more users in the upcoming months. While not explicitly labeled as a gaming platform by YouTube, this move indicates the company’s exploration of new ways to engage its audience and diversify content offerings.

It will be interesting to see how Playables will impact the YouTube experience and whether it can establish itself in the competitive mobile gaming landscape. For now, users in select regions can explore this new feature and discover a fresh dimension of entertainment within their familiar YouTube app.