Google is probably one of the most useful tools that most of us make use of on a daily basis.
And why not? Google is not only user-friendly, but it also delivers fast results and reliable answers to our search queries.
But did you know, Google is not only functional? This search engine can be fun as well, with the Google page having a lot of hidden games, tricks and Easter eggs.
And no, we do not mean the ones that the Easter bunny brings. In this case, an Easter egg is defined as “a hidden message or feature in a video game, film, comic book, etc. that is not necessary or related to the main content, but adds to the entertainment“. And the Google homepage is full of them!
In this article, we have compiled some of our favourite Google Easter eggs as well as provided you with some handy tips to improve your Google experience and help you find the information you need.
Gaming-themed Google Easter Eggs
Looking for something fun to do to pass the time? Here are our favourite Google product Easter Egg games.
1. Dinosaur Game (Only on Google Chrome)
Have you ever tried to search for something on Chrome only to realise you have been disconnected? Google will inform you of this connection time-out by showing a little grey dinosaur standing in the desert.
Most of us are saddened by this cute little guy and will scramble to try and restore our connection, but if you just sit tight and press the space bar, you will soon forget your sorrows.
Once you hit the space bar, the dinosaur will start to run, and you have to press space to help him jump over cacti or duck beneath pterodactyls. The further he runs, the faster he goes!
How to get this Easter egg: You should try to load a page on Chrome without an internet connection.
2. Conway’s Game of Life
Conway’s Game of Life was created in 1970 by John Horton Conway. This is not exactly a game, but will still provide plenty of entertainment.
Conway’s Game of Life is an automaton that only requires an initial input from you, and then you get to see how life began. By searching for it on Google, you will see an animation on the right of the search result page that has a timer and blocks that are used to illustrate how the population fluctuates and multiplies.
How to get this Easter egg: Type “Conway’s Game of Life” into the Google search bar.
3. Super Mario Brothers
Fans of this classic arcade game will probably be more entertained than most with this Google Easter egg. You see, when you search for this much-loved game on Google, a blinking golden box with a question mark will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
Click on it, and you will get 200 points as well as hear the recognisable coin sound from Super Mario Bros.
It appears that there is no limit to how many times you can click on the box, and eventually, you will hear a “One-Up” sound – but you can still keep clicking!
How to get this Easter egg: Type “Super Mario Brothers” into Google. Note that “Super Mario Bros” will not work.
4. Zerg Rush
Getting the Zerg Rush Easter egg on Google is not as simple as quickly searching for the term.
Zerg Rush pays homage to StarCraft and can be a fun, anxiety-inducing way to waste some time.
There are two ways to activate this Easter Egg:
- Search for “Zerg Rush” and select the first result.
- Type “Zerg Rush” into the search bar and select “I’m feeling lucky”.
And what happens next? Well, a bunch of O’s will appear on the screen (some with health bars) and you need to click on them before they devour your results!
How to get this Easter egg: Type “Zerg Rush” into the search bar and select “I’m Feeling Lucky”. Additionally, do a normal search for “Zerg Rush” and select the top result on the page.
5. Atari Breakout
Those who enjoyed games like Brick Breaker and Breakout will definitely have fun with Atari Breakout.
In the past you could just search for Atari Breakout on Google Images to start playing, but now it is a bit more complicated.
Like Zerg Rush, you will have to take one additional step to find Atari Breakout, and that is to use the “I’m Feeling Lucky” option on Google when searching for “Atari Breakout”.
Once you do this, instead of loading search results, Google will load a screen with blocks and a bar at the bottom of the screen that you can move using your mouse. A ball will bounce from the bar, and you have to try and break the bricks.
How to get this Easter egg: Type “Atari Breakout” into the search bar and use the “I’m Feeling Lucky” option.
6. Take a minute to breathe with Breathing Exercise
Not so much a game as a moment of silence, Breathing Exercise will help you to relax and quickly reset your mind if you are feeling very frantic.
By typing “breathing exercise” into Google, this Google Easter egg will pop up at the top of the search results as a blue box with a play button. By pressing play, you will be able to enjoy a calming one-minute breathing exercise.
How to get this Easter egg: Simply type “breathing exercise” into your Chrome browser.
7. Text Adventure Game
The older generation, or those with an old soul, will enjoy this Google Easter egg!
Go to the Google homepage and enter “text adventure” or “interactive fiction” and load the results. Then open the inspector tool by using Ctrl+Shift+J (or you can right-click and select “Inspect”). On the right-hand side, some code will load, and you will spot the following text “Do you want to play a game? (yes/no)“. From there, you can select yes, and start a wild and exciting text adventure!
How to get this Easter egg: Type either “text adventure” or “interactive fiction” into Google and use the keyboard shortcut ctrl+shift+J to open the inspector tool and start playing the game.
8. Tic Tac Toe
Ah, the old classic that destroyed friendships and turned siblings into rivals.
By searching for Tic Tac Toe on Google, the game board will appear at the top of the screen. You can decide whether you want to play against the computer or a friend, and you can also set the difficulty level.
How to get this Easter egg: Type “tic tac toe” into Google.
Number-themed Google Easter Eggs
It’s not all fun and games on Google, there are also some cool Google tricks that make use of numbers.
1. Convert numbers to words
Sometimes it can be hard to pronounce or figure out how to say very large numbers (think millions and billions!).
Google is able to help by telling you exactly how to pronounce a number.
For example, if you want to know how to pronounce 67,534,123, just type in “67534123=english”, and this smart search engine will tell you that it is pronounced sixty-seven million five hundred thirty-four thousand one hundred twenty-three.
How to get this Easter egg: Type the number you want in words followed by “=English” (or whatever language you need).
2. Random Number Generator
Ever needed a random number but didn’t feel like using your own brain?
Google is here to help!
Using the random number generator you can, well, generate any random number! You can adjust the minimum and maximum number and set the range you want a number generated from.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “random number generator”.
3. Roll a Dice
Dice are pesky things and you never know where to find one when you are in desperate need!
By Googling “roll a die” or “roll dice”, Google will provide you with a dice which you can roll online. You can decide how many sides the die must have (from 4 to 20) and use multiple dice as required.
Select “Roll” to roll the die and see your results in the box.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “roll dice” or “roll a die”.
Fun Word-themed Google Tricks
1. Secret languages
Ever wanted to google in a different, fantasy language? Lucky for you, Google has some secret languages on offer.
By navigating to your settings on your Google Homepage, you can select Search Settings, and then Languages.
You can select from the following languages:
- Bork, bork, bork! – from The Muppets.
- Elmer Fudd – from Looney Toons
- Leet Language – from Google hacker
- Klingon – from Star Trek
- Pirate Language – aye, aye matey!
How to get this Easter egg: Select settings at the bottom of the Google home page, go to Search Settings>Languages and select the language of your choice.
2. Askew
Those who like things neat and orderly will not enjoy the “Askew” Easter egg. By searching “Askew” in Google, the search result page will be slightly tilted.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “Askew” in Google
3. Do a barrel roll
Are you keen to feel a little bit topsy-turvy and to have your world turned upside down?
By searching for “do a barrel roll” on Google, the search engine result page will do an entire barrel roll flip before showing you the results.
How to get this Easter egg: Google “do a barrel roll”.
4. Answers to all your questions
Do you have any mind-bending, existential questions you need answering?
Well, of course, Google has plenty of answers in its search results for all types of questions, but fans of Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy will rejoice because Google also has the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
We won’t spoil the answer for you!
There are also some other fun questions with interesting (and mathematical) answers you can try, like “once in a blue moon”, “number of horns on a unicorn”, and “the loneliest number”.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “the answer to life, the universe and everything” for a homage to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books.
5. Bring back 1998
Are you feeling a little nostalgic for the 90s? Google is here to take you on a trip down memory lane.
By searching the term “Google in 1998”, Google will load a result page that is reminiscent of Google in those days – including the old Google logo! If you are done daydreaming of the good old days, you can select “take me back to the present” to return to modern-day Google.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “Google in 1998” in Chrome or the search bar.
6. A nod to Pluto
Although this is probably not really considered an Easter Egg, it still belongs on this list as it brings in a little bit of personality on an otherwise factual results page.
Remember when Pluto was still considered a planet? Sure you do! Sadly for this little planet, it was kicked out of the planetary club and downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006.
Well, when you search for Pluto on Google, you will get all the typical search engine results, but look closely and you will see on the right-hand side of the screen that Pluto is being called “Our favorite dwarf planet since 2006“.
How to get this Easter egg: Simply search for “Pluto” on Google.
7. Fun Facts
If you are incredibly bored or looking for a distraction from work or school, then Google is more than happy to keep you entertained with some fun facts.
By searching for fun facts on Google, you will receive a random fun fact at the top of the search results. If you are looking for even more facts, select “Ask Another Question” to keep falling down into the rabbit hole.
How to get this Easter egg: Search for “fun facts” in the search bar.
Google Maps and Google Earth Easter Eggs
When it comes to Easter eggs, there are also several weird sights and fun things to find on Google Earth and Google Maps.
1. Calling Batman
Most people alive today know who Batman is. Although he is located in the City of Gotham according to DC Comics, it would appear that he occasionally ventures out of this fictional universe.
Those with keen eyes have spotted a Batman symbol on the U.S. Airforce Base in Okinawa, Japan. Apparently, no one is certain who painted this Batman symbol on the roof of the base, but rumours have it that it has been around since the 1980s – way before Google Earth’s existence.
Where to find this Easter egg: Find it at Google Earth coordinates 26.357891, 127.78378
2. Where ships go to die
Ever wonder where ships go to die?
Well, someone discovered that they go to the Gaddani Ship Breaking Yard in Pakistan.
Often, fixing or upgrading old ships is too expensive, so owners give them away to shipyards like these where they are broken down or simply left to rot. This ship-breaking yard spans 10 km of coast and is a sight to witness from the sky.
Where to find this Easter egg: You can find the ship graveyard at the following DMS coordinates: 25°03’60.00″ N 66°41’59.99″ E.
3. Mysteries of Egypt
Our satellite imagery often finds spooky or seemingly unexplainable phenomena and structures on Earth.
One of these is a strange structure that appears in the sands outside of Cairo, Egypt. There is a lot of mystery regarding this interesting, triangular-shaped structure surrounded by six circular structures.
Some speculate it is a military compound, while other movie-buffs claim it is from the set of Star Wars. Some even believe it was built by aliens!
Where to find this Easter egg: You can find it at coordinates 30° 1’14.40″N 31°43’17.49″E on Google Maps
4. A Face in the Ice
Pareidolia is when you see faces in inanimate objects, and there are plenty of this occurring on Google Earth and Maps – with people claiming to see face-like structures all over the world.
The most famous of these is the face spotted on the ice of Antarctica, which seems to be that of a giant frozen in time.
Sadly, the real explanation is much less exciting, and it is simply a natural ice formation.
Where to find this Easter egg: Search for the coordinates 72°00’36.0″S 168°34’40.0″E on Google Earth
5. The goodest boy
Everyone loves a good boy, and those navigating the streets of the Kumage District in Japan were very excited when they spotted a little dog chasing the Google Street View car through the streets of this neighbourhood.
The dog was relaxing by a boat when the vehicle grabbed his attention, and the adorable pup chased the car for quite a distance!
Handy Google Search Tips & Tricks
To help you make the most of Google, we have compiled some Google tricks that you might not have known.
1. Use site:edu for results from educational institutions
If you want results from academic institutions, you can begin your search by typing “site:edu” into the search bar before starting your search.
For even more detailed results, follow it with “intitle:” before Googling your topic.
2. Convert units easily
Not sure how to convert kilometres to miles or kilograms to pounds?
Google can easily do the math for you. To do conversions, just type whatever you are looking for, for example, “100 feet to metres” and the search results will give you the answer you need right at the top of the page.
3. Easily find your IP address
Are you not sure what your IP address is but need it to help the IT guy help you?
Simply search for “What is my IP” in Google to get your unique IP number.
4. Get a bubble level (mobile only)
Have you ever tried to hang a painting but were not sure if it was exactly level?
By searching for “bubble level” on your phone, Google will load an interactive bubble level to help you keep things straight.
5. Search using images
If you are looking for something specific but you are not sure which words to use, you can use a reverse Google Image Search to find what you are looking for.
To do this, go to Google Images and select the camera icon. You can then upload an image (or click and drag it onto the browser) and get results for similar-looking images.
Final Thoughts
Google is more than just a search engine, it’s a place where you can be entertained for a break from the monotony of the working week. From Google Doodles that pop up around major holidays or events to Google Easter eggs that have already been discontinued (like Monty Python’s funniest joke in the world on Google Translate), Google is constantly coming up with new ways to keep us engaged!
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