Now you can play Solitaire and Minesweeper even while pretending to be active on Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is the “nightmare” of those who are stuck working remotely, sitting in endless meetings with co-workers. So why not. How about being able to play Solitaire and Minesweeper while pretending to be active on Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft has duplicated functionality already available under older versions of Windows, with Microsoft Teams becoming a pathway to the famous Solitaire and Minesweeper games, along with other once-famous titles like Microsoft IceBreakers and Microsoft Wordament. Unofficially, the plan seems to be to reinforce as much as possible office workers’ reliance on Microsoft Teams, at a time when more and more of the platform’s users are returning to their old physical desktops.

Conveniently, Microsoft Teams adaptations were facilitated with the help of Microsoft Casual Games, an offshoot of the Xbox Game Studios division.

According to Microsoft, the plan is to help co-workers “take a break and re-energize” in a virtual office setting. Microsoft even offers as justification a study, showing that teams that play together for 45 minutes are 20% more productive than those who opt for other types of team building activities. “Research shows that asking games promotes cognitive benefits, helps foster empathy and encourages inclusion, team building and learning,” the company added.