Popular Doodle Google games: How to play and keep yourself entertained in lockdown

Company hopes games give people something to do while stuck at home

Andrew Griffin
Friday 01 May 2020 10:42 BST
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Google is bringing back its most popular Doodle games to keep people entertained through coronavirus lockdowns.

The new Doodles will highlight some of the best games to grace its homepage from recent years.

The feature began on 27 April and will run for two weeks, with new games arriving each day.

It has already highlighted its “Coding for Carrots” game, which first arrived in 2017 and was launched to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Logo, the programming language created for children. It allows children to learn the basics of coding using the simple game, which sees them control a rabbit as it goes around hunting for food.

Likewise, the “Rockmore” game was made to celebrate theramin pioneer Clara Rockmore’s 105th birthday, and allows users to learn to play the unusual, eerie-sounding electric instrument. The similar “Fischinger” doodle was originally made to celebrate the 117th birthday of the filmmaker and visual artist Oskar Fischinger, and also lets players create their own music.

Other games are less educational, such as the second that was created as part of the ICC Championships Trophy. It’s a cricket game in two senses: you’re playing cricket, but you also play as a cricket, taking part in an animal-themed championship.

Joining the crickets in the outdoors-themed games are garden gnomes, who originally appeared in 2018 in a game that aimed both to celebrate the history of Germany’s craftspeople and also allow players to throw clay models out of a trebuchet. That game was originally created in summer 2018.

New updates will arrive each day through the period. Google hasn’t revealed what they are, but is teasing them in a special part of its webpage.

The games can be found by simple heading to Google’s homepage, or searching “popular google doodle games” from the browser.

The series is being run to allow people to have something to do while they stay at home through the coronavirus lockdown.

“As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people and families everywhere are spending more time at home,” a post from Google on its Doodle blog explained. ”In light of this, we’re launching a throwback Doodle series looking back at some of our popular interactive Google Doodle games!”

Google is also giving away free trials to its online Stadia gaming service, which lets people play blockbuster games over the internet.

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