It’s Google’s 26th birthday and it is by far the most visited website in the world, serving as the preferred choice of search engine following the decline of Yahoo in the early 2010s.
Owned by Alphabet Inc., Google is ranked as the second most valuable company in the world by Forbes as of 2020, with a brand value of $209 bn (USD), only being surpassed by Apple. For reference, that’s approximately three-times the value of another super-brand such as Coca-Cola or The Walt Disney Company.
The company is thought to own around 92% of the market share and was officially added to the dictionary in 2006 as a verb, with a popular phrase being to ‘Google it’ meaning to research something.
Doodles are 24 years old in October, debuting in Halloween 2000, so here are some of the best Google has to offer.
Top 10 Google Doodle games you can play for free
- Crossword Puzzles: tried and tested through decades of popularity, crossword puzzles are a chilled out way to challenge your vocabulary knowledge and to expand your vernacular.
- Pacman: Another classic involving our yellow friend looking to avoid being caught by ghosts, and occasionally even chasing after them himself.
- x|xBasketball 2012: this game was first released in 2012 and is pretty straightforward, the player simply has to shoot the ball into the basket to score as many points as possible before the time runs out.
- Doctor Who: based on the British TV show, this doodle was released in 2013 celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary. The player must progress through levels and solve puzzles, whilst avoiding enemies along the way.
- Doodle Baseball: the player clicks their mouse to swing the bat, if it’s timed correctly the player can hit the ball out of the park. The game challenges you by giving you targets to hit and to avoid obstacles along the way.
- Rubiks Cube: Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the puzzle, the Doodle version follows the same concept as players use their mouse to manoeuver the cube and attempt to line all of the colors up to one side.
- Slalom Canoe: Players use their keyboard to control their canoe and attempt to avoid obstacles along the way, navigating through a course. As the player progresses, the courses become more complicated and faster.
- Halloween 2016: Players control a black cat that attempts to run and jump through levels. The aim is to dodge barriers and collect treats with some challenging puzzles thrown in too.
- Doodle Cricket: operating in the same way as the doodle baseball game, a player must click the mouse to swing the bat. Cricket is one of the globe’s most popular sports.
- Pony Express: Players control a rider via their arrow keys or touch screen and should attempt to collect letters and packages whilst avoiding desert-themed obstacles. Full of Old West iconography and color schemes.