Play the hidden basketball game in Facebook Messenger: Here’s how to find and share

Facebook Messenger might not be your number one communication app when there’s WhatsApp to be used, but a fun easter egg could have you using it more than ever.

Hidden in plain sight on Facebook’s Messenger app is a mini game of basketball.

Once you’re suitably bored of hearing your mate drone on about their latest play through of Fallout 4, send them a basketball emoji and get gaming.

Here’s how to get it installed and share it with others.

The first step is to make sure you’re updating and running the latest version of the app. Once that’s sorted go into a contact as if you were going to have a conversation. Then send the basketball emoji on its own. Now that emoji is in the conversation window you can tap it to start playing.

Go for a high score and enjoy the emojis that make scoring and missing almost as fun as each other. When you’re done your score will be displayed in the chat window, ready for abuse from your mate who might feel scorned you’re playing instead of chatting. Of course they have the option to play too.

Sharing the game is as easy as sending the basketball emoji and telling the person at the other end to click it to play. If they have issues be sure to tell them to update the app to the latest version. You will then be alerted to how many points the person you shared it with has managed to get. So get ready to get competitive.

Let us know your high score in the comments below.

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