LinkedIn hires Sudoku champion to build daily games

LinkedIn has hired Thomas Snyder, a three-time world Sudoku champion, to run its daily puzzle operation as the Microsoft-owned network leans further into games as a retention tool.

Business Insider reports that Snyder is LinkedIn’s “principal puzzlemaster,” responsible for titles such as “Zip” and “Patches.” The product logic is straightforward: a daily puzzle creates a repeatable habit, pulls users back into the app, and generates a fresh reason to scroll the feed afterwards. Unlike a one-off feature launch, puzzles can be refreshed at low marginal cost, and each day’s grid or word game becomes a piece of content users can share—often with their professional identity attached.

That identity layer is the differentiator. LinkedIn is not competing with dedicated game apps on graphics or depth; it is using a workplace network as a distribution system. A user who posts a streak, a score, or a hint broadcasts the game to colleagues and recruiters, turning status updates into free marketing. The platform also gets cleaner measurement: daily games create predictable sessions that can be tied to ad impressions and, potentially, to premium upgrades that promise better visibility, messaging, or analytics.

The strategy also fits the broader shift in social platforms from growth to extraction. With user acquisition harder and feeds saturated, companies look for lightweight reasons to increase time spent. Puzzles are a relatively safe bet: they are brand-friendly, avoid many of the moderation liabilities of political content, and can be tuned for difficulty to maximise completion and sharing.

Snyder’s career change—from biotech to puzzles—makes for a neat profile, but the more revealing detail is the job title itself. LinkedIn now employs a full-time puzzlemaster to keep professionals coming back tomorrow.