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That’s quite a bit more descriptive. Basically, Triple Town wants to see who’s in your circles, order them by how you interact with them, and connect your profile to your game playing and progress. The game will know you’re playing, and may share that with your friends if they stop by the Games section, but before it can actually create a post about your playing, you’ll have a chance to choose which circles that post gets shared with. Still, if this all sounds like too much data-mining for you, click “No thanks” and move on to another game. Otherwise, click “Allow access,” and the game will launch in your main browser window.

NOTE

Some Google+ games require Adobe Flash, and almost all of them include sound effects and/or background music. If you don’t have Flash installed, open a new browser tab or window and head to www.get.adobe.com/flashplayer. As for music and sound effects, you can play some games just fine without sound (like, say, at work—on lunch break, of course), and many games provide controls to turn off their sound effects and music, so you can leave your speakers on for email notifications and the like.

Each game is different, but most have a few common elements. Most games include a button like the one in the lower-right corner of Triple Town that reads “Invite friends to play!” The incentive for the game makers is wider exposure, and perhaps some of those additional players will purchase in-game items, or pay for versions of the game that contain more levels and features. Triple Town, for example, lets players buy virtual coins with real money (yes, you read that right) so they can buy items that help them improve their scores, and feel all is right with the (virtual) world.

NOTE

To purchase in-game items through Google+, you need a Google Checkout account. Google Checkout lets you pay for items online with a credit card, direct bank debit, or other means, through a secure, encrypted system tied to your Google account. Google+ will open a new web page to let you set up a Checkout account if you lack one, or you can set one up on your own, at any time, by heading to www.google.com/checkout.

Another thing most Google+ games do is offer you a tutorial when you first arrive at the game window. Triple Town, for example, starts off simple, showing you how to place objects and making it clear that the goal is to line up three or more of the same thing (hence the name!). Some games let you watch a video that shows how to play.

Sharing Game Results

As you roll along in Triple Town (or your game of choice), you get tips about advanced features, pick up little hints about how to boost your score and achievements, and so on. Next thing you know, you might end up a little bit obsessed with this game. To spread your new obsession, you can share your score with your Google+ circles.

If you click “Share!” (or whatever similar button your game provides for bragging), you’ll get a sharing box similar to the post-composing box, where you can add a comment, decide who to share with, and then click Share to pull the trigger or Cancel if you change your mind. If you’ve used Facebook for any length of time, you know that people who constantly share their game achievements and ask for help (with, say, their virtual farms) can quickly become annoying. Google+ tries to avoid this by making it easy to block game notifications (Getting into Games), but still—make your game boasting and begging an occasional thing.

Some games in Google+ won’t end up being worth your time, but others might be remarkably fun distractions that require nothing more than a web browser. And joining your friends—and competing against them—makes the games even more fun. Best of all, your scores and achievements are automatically saved and linked to your Google+ profile, so there’s no need to worry that you’ll lose hours of achievements by forgetting to save.

Joining a Game

IN SOME GAMES, INVITING your friends to play from