At the moment, Instagram Stories doesn’t have a designated game feature. However, it seems that the company has been adding more game-like elements within the app, so it might just be a matter of time before we start seeing official Instagram games. In the meantime, we discuss the closest thing that Instagram has to games:

Create Mode Templates as games

In October 2019, Instagram introduced Create Mode: a new option for creating stories that isn’t based on an existing image or video. The features include Templates: background images that you can decorate with stickers and text.

The Create Mode templates aren’t just plain images, though. They encourage you to add specific types of content, which turn the feature into a kind of interactive game.

For example, if you tap through the templates, you’ll find the Quick Draw Challenge. Using this template encourages you to draw something using the pencil feature in the Story editor, and challenge your friends to draw something, too.

Instagram Story games

You can use many of the other templates as a kind of game, the way people have used plain-text questionnaires on other social media platforms. You can rate your favorite pizza toppings, share what music you’re listening to, and even show your followers a selfie of how you woke up this morning.

But you don’t need to stick to the limited templates in Create Mode.

You can also use other templates or images, such as the templates on StoryBoost, where you can answer questions using text, stickers, or GIFs. If you search for interactive games for IG stories on Pinterest, you’ll find lots of cool ideas.

Taking Instagram Story games to the next level

One user really takes the concept of Instagram Story games to the next level. Pablo Rochat of San Francisco creates amazing interactive games by combining clever imagery and animation with the features of Instagram Stories.

But you don’t have to be Pablo Rochat! You can use apps like StoryBoost to design beautiful Stories that function like games, and increase your small business reach.

Using games on Instagram Stories helps boost your engagement and increase interaction with followers. They’re fun and not overly promotional, but they get your followers to play along and tag other IG users who could become your followers in the future, too.