Many still haven't noticed (it's actually difficult to find out) but by sending a simple emoji to a contact Instagram via private messages (better known as direct message) there is the possibility to start a Pong style game. The Meta platform, in fact, never made an official announcement on the matter but more than anything it was word of mouth from many users who discovered it by chance.
Here's how it's activated
It's all very simple: by sending, for example, a heart (also in keeping with the game) in direct and clicking on it, an instant later a message appears screen in which the classic red heart available in emoji starts to move up and down: to accumulate the highest score it is not necessary to make it “die”, the user will simply have to move a small cursor at the base of the screen thanks to which the heart will bounce up and down helped by the banks. Every time the heart touches the bottom bar, a point will accumulate and so on until it is lost. As the game progresses, the heart will become increasingly faster and more difficult to control: the partial score will appear in the center of the screen, at the end of the game you will read in the top right which record will be broken.
Anyone who wants to try this new game that many have dubbed “anti-boredom” will notice that at the beginning, when the heart moves more slowly, the background is yellow: as you manage to move forward it will become increasingly dark until it takes on a purple-like color when you lose and lots of hearts at the end of the screen. At that point you can choose to play again or go back.
What was Pong
The new game made available by Instagram is very reminiscent of Pong, a video game born between the Sixties and Seventies which in some ways recalled ping-pong, table tennis, which at that time was initially supplied in black and white. Experts explain that when the game is activated, the user to whom we have sent the emoji will not realize that we are online and playing. Although it works for both iOS and Android operating systems, many have reported that they are unable to access it: it is not known whether this issue is due to a failure to update with the latest version or not.
An Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company is always working on new ways to make “Funniest Instagram” and that's why this new game was launched.