There’s a hidden Atari Breakout Easter egg game available to play in Google Search — but only if you know how to find it. By modern-day standards, Breakout is hardly the most visually or mentally stimulating game. After all, it is just another version of Pong. However, when Breakout first launched back in 1976, it was very much a product of its time. It was a game that instantly attracted demand and proved to be a hit. While not responsible for the name or the idea, Breakout was designed for Atari by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
While Breakout launched in 1976, the Google Search version was added in 2013 to mark the 37th anniversary of the original. Directly inspired by the classic version of the game, Google’s implementation makes a nice change to the usual Google Search experience. Players have the option to use the arrow keys on their keyboard (or their mouse) to play the game. With no clicking involved, you’ll have five lives to generate the highest score you can by breaking through as many blocks as possible.
Finding Atari Breakout On Google Search
With most Google Search Easter eggs, finding them is as simple as searching for the correct search term. While that’s technically true this time as well, there’s an extra step needed to properly find and play the Search version of Breakout. The search term you need to use is 'Atari Breakout.' If you perform the search normally, Google Search returns the normal results, including links to official sites and resources. Although folks could previously access the game by searching through the Images section of Google Search, that’s no longer the case. The correct and current way to find the Easter egg in 2022 is to visit Google Search, type 'Atari Breakout' into the search bar, and click 'I'm Feeling Lucky.'
Again, if you don’t use the Lucky search option, then the Easter egg won’t load as intended. The same is true of Google Search Images. It'll showcase numerous screenshots of the Google game, but no actual game for you to play. If you want to play Breakout in Google Search, you have to search from it with that Lucky button.
Lastly, the process is slightly different if trying to access the game through Google Search on a smartphone. Open the web browser on your phone, head to Google, do a normal search for 'Atari Breakout,' and tap the first link (it should be from 'elgooG'). Tap that link, and the game starts up instantly. While it doesn't technically happen within Google Search as it does on desktop, it's the same game you'd expect.
Other Google Search Easter Egg Games To Try
Atari Breakout isn't the only game Google has hidden in Search results. In 2010, Google hid a Pac-Man game in search. The game is accessible by just typing 'Pac man' or 'Pacman.' A box with the game will show up at the top of the search results page, and you can tap 'Play' to start playing it in the browser. You can use the arrow keys on a laptop or swipe on the screen on a smartphone to navigate through the maze, avoid the ghosts, and even access Ms. Pac-Man as an additional Easter Egg.
Apart from this, Google also offers a few other staple games users can access directly from search. The iconic Snake game is available just by typing 'Snake game' or 'Google snake.' The game was a staple on old Nokia feature phones, but Google's version is in full color. The premise is still the same though – try and make your snake eat as many apples as you can (as it grows progressively longer), while avoiding colliding with the edges. If you're really bored, you can even play old Windows classics like Minesweeper and Solitaire in Google Search.
Check Out elgooG For Older Easter Eggs
While Google has retained some Easter eggs in Search for years, others are often removed after a few weeks or months. The good news is that the elgooG website is an archive of the most popular Easter eggs released over the years. In fact, the Atari Breakout Easter egg is actually hosted on elgooG. Here you'll find all the classics, including Thanos Snap, Super Mario Bros, Zerg Rush, Underwater Search, and many more.
You'll even find all the currently available Google Easter eggs on the website, making them easy to access in one place. You can play the Dinosaur Game, Snake, and Pac-Man. It's even possible to view what Google looked like in 1998, and experience the fun Easter eggs like 'Do A Barrel Roll' and Google Tilt.
Source: Google