10 Google Doodles that Are Actually Fun Games You Can Play in Your Browser
Google likes to have fun with the logo it presents on Google.com, frequently replacing it with a fun doodle that celebrates holidays, anniversaries, or the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists. Sometimes the doodle is static, other times it’s animated or interactive.
Among Google's interactive doodles, some are fun little games that will delight you with their simple yet captivating gameplay. This article is about these types of doodles. It presents 10 Google doodles that are fun games you can play in your browser. Starting in chronological order, from newest to oldest...
1. Help a pangolin woo his scaly soulmate
Released in honor of Valentine’s Day 2017, this doodle tells the story of two pangolins who are in a long-distance relationship and decide to have their first date on the most romantic day of the year. To make sure the date goes off without a hitch, the pangolin travels to Ghana and learns to make a chocolate cake, ventures to India to come up with a lovely melody for his beloved, goes to China to learn how to dance, and then finally journeys to the Philippines to learn how to build a beautiful bouquet.
"Pangolins are the most poached and trafficked mammal in the world," explained Jordan Thompson, Software Engineer on the Doodle Team. "We hope that by playing this Doodle game, you can learn a bit more about these wonderful creatures. To get more information and see how you can help, check out this page on the World Wildlife Fund site.
Have fun playing the Pangolin Love Doodle Google.
2. Cast spells and save the illustrious Magic Cat Academy
Hundreds of angry ghosts have invaded the illustrious Magic Cat Academy. It’s up to Momo, a freshman feline, to save the day. By using her wand to draw symbols, Momo can cast out the mischievous spirits, save her friends, and restore the peace at the Magic Cat Academy.
That’s the story behind Google’s Halloween 2016 doodle. There are 5 levels in all, set across the library, cafeteria, classroom, gym, and school rooftop. As expected, things get tougher and tougher as you progress through the levels. The goal is to defeat the ghosts before they reach Momo because if they do, Momo loses a life. And she doesn’t have 9 lives to spare, she only has 5.
Have fun playing the Magic Cat Academy Google Doodle.
3. Help Beethoven arrange his masterpieces in time
In December 2015, the world celebrated 245 years since Ludwig van Beethoven was born. Google marked the occasion with a musical puzzle that focuses on Beethoven’s rotten luck. Bad things keep happening to Beethoven as he’s rushing to get to the symphony hall. He keeps dropping the sheets to his masterpieces and it’s up to you to arrange them in the correct order.
Have fun playing the Ludwig van Beethoven Google Doodle.
4. Make a Tokusatsu movie, just like Eiji Tsuburaya
Back in July 2015, Google celebrated Eiji Tsuburaya’s 114th birthday with a doodle that lets you make a Tokusatsu movie. You’ll see that creating a beast-based thriller isn’t as easy as it seems.
Have fun playing the Eiji Tsuburaya Google Doodle.
5. Choose a team and take part in the Global Candy Cup
For Halloween 2015, Google came up with the Global Candy Cup doodle which asks you to pick between 4 extraordinary witches: the nearsighted Blue Witch, the opportunistic and wickedly fast Red Witch, the cat-loving Yellow Witch, and the literature obsessed Green Witch. After picking a team, you have to fly around collecting candy and dodging bats, crows or spooky ghosts.
In case you were wondering, the Yellow Witch team won the 2015 Global Candy Cup.
Have fun playing the Halloween Global Candy Cup Google Doodle.
6. Create a fun Venn diagram
You may know what a Venn diagram is, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know when John Venn, the logician and philosopher who created it, was born. He was born in August 1834 and in August 2014, to celebrate John Venn’s 180th birthday, Google created a fun doodle that lets you create Venn diagrams. Pick a circle from the left hand side, select a circle from the right hand side, and the Venn diagram will present what the two circles have in common.
Have fun playing the John Venn Google Doodle.
7. Solve a Rubik’s Cube
The world's top-selling puzzle game, the Rubick’s Cube, was featured as a Google doodle back in May 2014. If you’re going to try and solve it, there are a few keyboard shortcuts you need to know about: F – front; B – back; U – up; L – left; R – right; D – down; X – rotate cube on R; Y – rotate cube on U; Z – rotate cube on F; Uppercase – turn 90-dgree clockwise; Lowercase – turn 90-degree counter-clockwise.
Have fun solving the Rubik’s Cube Google Doodle.
8. As Dr. Who, recover the Google letters stolen by the Daleks
The dastardly Daleks have stolen the Google letters and it’s up to you to get them back. Pick your favorite Dr. Who, play through the levels, and recover the letters. That is the simple premise behind the doodle that Google published in November 2013 in celebration of Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary.
Have fun playing the Doctor Who Google Doodle.
9. Smack the piñata and see how much candy you can get
Back in September 2013, Google celebrated its 15th birthday and celebrated this joyous occasion with a doodle that gives you a simple task: smack the Google’s 15th Birthday Piñata and see how much candy you can get.
Have fun playing Google’s 15th Birthday Google Doodle.
10. Play Snake to celebrate the Year of the Snake
According to the Chinese calendar, 2017 is the year of Rooster, 2016 was the year of the Monkey, 2015 was the year of the Goat, 2014 was the year of the horse, and 2013 was the year of the Snake. And what better way for Google to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2013 than with a doodle that lets you play snake?
Have fun playing the Chinese New Year 2013 Google Doodle.
Most honorable mention – the very first interactive Google doodle
The very first game doodle was posted in May 2010 and paid homage to a classic arcade game: PAC-MAN. Published on the game’s 30th anniversary, the doodle stays true to the original 1980s game, featuring the original game logic, graphics, and sounds. It even has some of the original bugs.
Have fun playing the PAC-MAN Google Doodle.
Want more interactive doodles?
The doodles presented above are just a faction of all the doodles that Google has published over the years. You can check out more interactive Google Doodles here.
Among Google's interactive doodles, some are fun little games that will delight you with their simple yet captivating gameplay. This article is about these types of doodles. It presents 10 Google doodles that are fun games you can play in your browser. Starting in chronological order, from newest to oldest...
1. Help a pangolin woo his scaly soulmate
Released in honor of Valentine’s Day 2017, this doodle tells the story of two pangolins who are in a long-distance relationship and decide to have their first date on the most romantic day of the year. To make sure the date goes off without a hitch, the pangolin travels to Ghana and learns to make a chocolate cake, ventures to India to come up with a lovely melody for his beloved, goes to China to learn how to dance, and then finally journeys to the Philippines to learn how to build a beautiful bouquet.
"Pangolins are the most poached and trafficked mammal in the world," explained Jordan Thompson, Software Engineer on the Doodle Team. "We hope that by playing this Doodle game, you can learn a bit more about these wonderful creatures. To get more information and see how you can help, check out this page on the World Wildlife Fund site.
Have fun playing the Pangolin Love Doodle Google.
2. Cast spells and save the illustrious Magic Cat Academy
Hundreds of angry ghosts have invaded the illustrious Magic Cat Academy. It’s up to Momo, a freshman feline, to save the day. By using her wand to draw symbols, Momo can cast out the mischievous spirits, save her friends, and restore the peace at the Magic Cat Academy.
That’s the story behind Google’s Halloween 2016 doodle. There are 5 levels in all, set across the library, cafeteria, classroom, gym, and school rooftop. As expected, things get tougher and tougher as you progress through the levels. The goal is to defeat the ghosts before they reach Momo because if they do, Momo loses a life. And she doesn’t have 9 lives to spare, she only has 5.
Have fun playing the Magic Cat Academy Google Doodle.
3. Help Beethoven arrange his masterpieces in time
In December 2015, the world celebrated 245 years since Ludwig van Beethoven was born. Google marked the occasion with a musical puzzle that focuses on Beethoven’s rotten luck. Bad things keep happening to Beethoven as he’s rushing to get to the symphony hall. He keeps dropping the sheets to his masterpieces and it’s up to you to arrange them in the correct order.
Have fun playing the Ludwig van Beethoven Google Doodle.
4. Make a Tokusatsu movie, just like Eiji Tsuburaya
Back in July 2015, Google celebrated Eiji Tsuburaya’s 114th birthday with a doodle that lets you make a Tokusatsu movie. You’ll see that creating a beast-based thriller isn’t as easy as it seems.
Have fun playing the Eiji Tsuburaya Google Doodle.
5. Choose a team and take part in the Global Candy Cup
For Halloween 2015, Google came up with the Global Candy Cup doodle which asks you to pick between 4 extraordinary witches: the nearsighted Blue Witch, the opportunistic and wickedly fast Red Witch, the cat-loving Yellow Witch, and the literature obsessed Green Witch. After picking a team, you have to fly around collecting candy and dodging bats, crows or spooky ghosts.
In case you were wondering, the Yellow Witch team won the 2015 Global Candy Cup.
Have fun playing the Halloween Global Candy Cup Google Doodle.
6. Create a fun Venn diagram
You may know what a Venn diagram is, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know when John Venn, the logician and philosopher who created it, was born. He was born in August 1834 and in August 2014, to celebrate John Venn’s 180th birthday, Google created a fun doodle that lets you create Venn diagrams. Pick a circle from the left hand side, select a circle from the right hand side, and the Venn diagram will present what the two circles have in common.
Have fun playing the John Venn Google Doodle.
7. Solve a Rubik’s Cube
The world's top-selling puzzle game, the Rubick’s Cube, was featured as a Google doodle back in May 2014. If you’re going to try and solve it, there are a few keyboard shortcuts you need to know about: F – front; B – back; U – up; L – left; R – right; D – down; X – rotate cube on R; Y – rotate cube on U; Z – rotate cube on F; Uppercase – turn 90-dgree clockwise; Lowercase – turn 90-degree counter-clockwise.
Have fun solving the Rubik’s Cube Google Doodle.
8. As Dr. Who, recover the Google letters stolen by the Daleks
The dastardly Daleks have stolen the Google letters and it’s up to you to get them back. Pick your favorite Dr. Who, play through the levels, and recover the letters. That is the simple premise behind the doodle that Google published in November 2013 in celebration of Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary.
Have fun playing the Doctor Who Google Doodle.
9. Smack the piñata and see how much candy you can get
Back in September 2013, Google celebrated its 15th birthday and celebrated this joyous occasion with a doodle that gives you a simple task: smack the Google’s 15th Birthday Piñata and see how much candy you can get.
Have fun playing Google’s 15th Birthday Google Doodle.
10. Play Snake to celebrate the Year of the Snake
According to the Chinese calendar, 2017 is the year of Rooster, 2016 was the year of the Monkey, 2015 was the year of the Goat, 2014 was the year of the horse, and 2013 was the year of the Snake. And what better way for Google to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2013 than with a doodle that lets you play snake?
Have fun playing the Chinese New Year 2013 Google Doodle.
Most honorable mention – the very first interactive Google doodle
The very first game doodle was posted in May 2010 and paid homage to a classic arcade game: PAC-MAN. Published on the game’s 30th anniversary, the doodle stays true to the original 1980s game, featuring the original game logic, graphics, and sounds. It even has some of the original bugs.
Have fun playing the PAC-MAN Google Doodle.
Want more interactive doodles?
The doodles presented above are just a faction of all the doodles that Google has published over the years. You can check out more interactive Google Doodles here.
