How to Use the Google+ Game Stream and Invite Others to Play With You

When Google+ announced they were going to develop games for the social network, many users cringed. The thought of having to put up with more updates from Angry Birds, Farmville and other games on another network was enough. However, Google was wise enough to realize that what social networkers want is the ability to filter the useless posts on their Streams from the useful ones. This is where the concept of the Games Stream came from.

Google+ offers a dedicated Games Stream when you get into Google+ Gaming so your primary Stream is not flooded with updates. This allows you to keep up on the important updates while maybe taking a look at the games ones if you decided to use Google+ Games.

We will take a look at the Google+ Games Stream along with how to invite others to play games with you on Google+. If you have not ventured into Google+ Games yet it’s about time you tried out this feature? Let’s get started.

How to use the Google+ Game Stream

The first step to getting started with going through your Google+ Games Stream is to navigate to it.
Click on the “Games icon” in the Google+ toolbar above your Stream.

Scroll down below the game previews and you will find the Games Stream.

Any updates those in your Circles opt to share with you from the games they are playing will be located here. You can +1, comment, hang out and share these updates just like you would any other update on Google+.
Click on the “Drop down arrow” to the right of any Games update.

This will allow you to report, mute or block a person just like other Stream updates if you no longer want to hear from them.
If you look towards the left hand side of your screen, you will see a Notifications link under your profile picture.

Click on “Notifications.”

This is the Game Notifications area. If there is a number next to it, someone has interacted with you through a game or invited you to play one with them.
When you achieve something in a game, you may be asked to share it with others. Remember, each game will be different in how it shares with your Games Stream.

Click “Share.”

The familiar Google+ share window opens. Write your comments, choose your Circles and click “Share” to share it to your Games Stream.

A few seconds later it will appear and be shared with the Circles you chose.
The Games Stream gives you the chance to filter game updates and primary updates so you do not miss anything. If you are not using the Games Stream effectively, you are missing out on what your Circles are doing when gaming on Google+.

How to invite others to play games with you on Google+

Every multiplayer game on Google+ offers a way to invite others to play with you.
One way involves showing at the bottom of launching a game those who might be interested in playing with you.

In this case, click on “Invite” to get started.

You will be given the opportunity to preview the message. Once finished, click “Send” to invite your friend to play the game with you.
Once they login and see the invite, they can accept it and begin playing a game on Google+ with you.
Other games may give you more choice over who you can invite to play, like in the next example.

At the bottom of this game, it gives you blank invites to send out. Click on one of them to get started.

From here, you can directly click on people from your Circles or even someone you do not have in a Circle to play with you.
Click “Preview” once you have selected those you want to play a game with.

Preview the message once again, then click “Send” when ready.

Then, just wait for your friend to join you in a Google+ game.
It will take a few games to figure out where to look and how to go about inviting friends to play games with you in Google+. Since each game is different, once you locate it, you will be able to send out invites as you see fit so you can enjoy the company of people you know on Google+ while you game.

Why is a Game Stream and playing games with others on Google+ important?

Google+ gives you what you want as a social networker. A separate, dedicated Games Stream allows you to avoid the hassle of weeding through game updates that take you away from what really matters to you. This feature was lacking, and is still lacking, from most other social networks that allow users to play games.
Unless you ignore a person or block a game update, you could be flooded by hundreds of updates you could care less about. Google+ gives you the option whether or not you keep up to date on how those in your Circles use their time in Google+ Gaming.