Alongside artworks, Google publishes interactive doodle games on its search results page on special occasions. I love to discover these cool Google Easter eggs as they are fun. Google archives all its old doodles on a dedicated page. Thanks to this practice, you can play any of the games that were previously featured on the Google Search page. If you’re feeling bored or want a distraction after focusing on your work, these Doodle games are the best timekillers! So, without any further ado, here are the best Google Doodle games that you can play right now.
1. Pac-Man
Released in 1980, the popular maze arcade game Pac-Man holds a special place in the hearts of Generation X and millennials. Whether you want to take a trip down memory lane and revisit the game or introduce the game to your children, you can do it right from Google Doodle games. To play the game, click the link below and click on the ‘Insert Coin’ button.
Play Pac-Man
2. Cricket
Introduced to celebrate the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, Cricket is a Google Doodle game where you play cricket as a cricket. The game is simple and all you have to do is click on the bat button to score runs. However, it can be a little addictive. The fact that I scored 100 runs while I could’ve just opened it and taken a screenshot speaks for itself.
Play Cricket
3. Halloween 2016
Dating back from 2016 is a Halloween doodle where you play as a black cat named Momo at Magic Cat Academy. Your task is to swipe spells and save your friends from ghosts. The game has simple controls and is an easy distraction. However, do keep in mind that the difficulty of the game tends to increase as you proceed further. You can try it out if you enjoy the Halloween season and enjoy being in that spirit.
Play Halloween
4. Bubble Tea
Let’s be honest, Bubble Tea has blown up all over the world in recent times, and for good reason. It is a sweet, fulfilling drink, that will bless your soul, and Google early this year celebrated that. The Bubble Tea Doodle game puts you in the shoes of a bipedal fox selling Bubble tea to its customers on a rainy day. Simply fulfill the order requests, and sell the tea. The game is short and ends after five orders. However, you can replay it as many times as you want.
Play Bubble Tea
5. Gerald Jerry Lawson Game Creator
Gerald “Jerry” Lawson is the reason why modern home consoles exist. He is also the reason why many of us get to enjoy gaming in this day and age. It comes as no surprise when Google Doodle gave the person a deserving tribute this year on his 82nd birthday. The game creator allows anyone to make whole levels of a platforming game, and modify some existing template. This Google doodle is befitting for a person that wants to see how game dev works, but in a simpler and more approachable fashion.
Play The Game Creator
6. Coding for Carrots
Introduced to celebrate 50 years of kids’ coding, Google’s Coding for Carrots game requires players to collect carrots on the way using code blocks. The idea is to guide the rabbit to collect all the available carrots. All you have to do is specify the right path. As the game advances, you’ll get nuanced controls to efficiently move the character. Kids across the globe have loved this game and chances are, your child is (or you are) likely to get hooked on this game.
Play Coding for Carrots
7. Garden Gnomes
In Garden Gnomes, you’re given the control of a catapult. You can press the space bar or click to start and launch clay gnomes as far as possible in the garden. The farther your gnome reaches, the more flowers you plant in the garden. You also get additional points for traveling more distance.
Play Garden Gnomes
8. Fischinger
Another music-themed game is Fischinger, created to celebrate Oskar Fischinger’s 117th birthday. Here, you can click on the screen to create your own visual music composition. You also have a wide range of customization options including presets, tempo adjustment slider, and more to get the right tone you need.
Play Fischinger
9. Scoville
Scoville is a game created to celebrate the 151st birthday of Wilbur Scoville, popularly known for formulating a system to measure the heat of a pepper. You’re an ice cream in the game and you’re supposed to fight the pepper. All you have to do is click right when the red circle reaches the middle spot. While doing so, you also get to know a lot about the different kinds of peppers out there. Cool bonus knowledge to acquire! A very well thought-out and fun Google Doodle game, indeed.
Play Scoville
10. Rubik’s Cube
Like it or not, we have all been fascinated by Rubik’s Cube at some point in life. Whether it is for reliving your memories or assessing if your Rubik’s Cube-solving skills are still up to the mark, Google’s Rubik’s Cube doodle game has got you covered. You can use the interactive version to solve Rubik’s Cube right from your web browser using a mouse or keyboard. The controls using the keyboard are as follows:
- F – Front
- B – Back
- U – Up
- D – Down
- L – Left
- R – Right
- X – Rotate Cube on the Right
- Y – Rotate Cube on Up
- Z – Rotate Cube on the Front
Play Rubik’s Cube
11. Basketball
Are any Basketball fans in the house? Introduced as part of the 2012 Summer Games interactive doodles, the Basketball Doodle game is a fun game for anyone who loves Basketball. The concept of the game is obviously to throw the ball through the net. You can use the Space bar or mouse button to tweak the pressure level and accurately throw the ball. You should score as many balls as possible in 24 seconds.
Play Basketball
12. Hurdles
Hurdles is another Google Doodle game you can play when you’re bored. In the game, you’re an athlete whose task is to jump through obstacles. You should alternatively press the Left and Right keyboard arrow keys to make the player run and the Space bar to jump. The player increases (or decreases) the running speed depending on how fast you press the arrow keys. While accidentally running into a hurdle won’t exit the game, the player’s running speed takes a significant hit. That’s everything you need to know about this game. Go ahead and try it out!
Play Hurdles
13. Slalom Canoe
Slalom Canoe is a Google Doodle created to celebrate the competitive sport of ‘canoe slalom’. For those who don’t know, Canoe slalom involves racing against the clock to navigate a canoe through a watercourse. Staying true to the game’s concept, you should navigate a canoe in the doodle game. The game utilizes left and right arrow keys to row the canoe. Pass through all the gates and reach the finish line.
Play Slalom Canoe
14. Pony Express
Next, we have Pony Express – a game where you are a horse rider striving to deliver mail on time from California to Missouri and vice versa. You should try collecting all 100 letters throughout the course of the game and avoid obstacles while you’re at it. Overall, it’s a simple Google Doodle game that you would enjoy when you want to relax and unwind after a busy day.
Play Pony Express
15. Champion Island
Champion Island is another really fun Google Doodle game you should definitely check out. You play as a cat protagonist who enters the champion island. Here, you have to prove your mettle against the champions of seven different sports. The open-world game lets you explore the entire island, finding side-quests along the way. It’s a fun game to spend hours of your time without ever needing to install a game. You will be able to join a team (not a true multiplayer team) and your performance will reflect against the team’s score in the leaderboard. Once you win all the games, you will be crowned the champion, along with an entire presentation ceremony of sorts.
Play Champion Island
16. Celebrating Pétanque
If you have ever bowled before, just think of Pétanque as a super mini version of it. Moreover, Pétanque is a game that is played outdoors, preferably on a lawn. The good thing is, the Pétanque game on Google Doodle allows you to enjoy the game right in the palm of your hands. The best thing? It can be played with your friends as well. So, if you are looking for great multiplayer Google Doodle games, nothing comes close to beating this.
Play Celebrating Pétanque
So, those are the Google Doodle games we love to play when bored. Which one of these is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. Meanwhile, if you’re bored at work and are looking for more games from Google, check out our coverage of the hidden Google games that you can play to kill time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can. Google archives old Doodle games on its dedicated Google Doodles page. You can browse Google Doodle Archive to find old games and doodles the company used in the past for the search engine’s home page.
The oldest Google Doodle honors the 1998 edition of the Burning Man event in Black Rock City, Nevada. Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin designed the doodle and it was featured on August 30, 1998.
You don’t have to download Google Doodle games. You can play them right from your web browser.
Google Doodle is a special version of Google’s Doodle designed to celebrate special events and important achievements in the world.
AR Doodle is a Samsung app that you can use to draw in 3D and add fancy drawings to your videos using your finger or S Pen. It has nothing to do with Google Doodles.
