Popular Google Doodle games: best games available from Rubik’s Cube to Pac-Man

Google has given us some genuinely entertaining ‘games’ in the past.

Sure, they might not match up to the blockbuster scale you might see on consoles, but they’re great at whiling away a few minutes of boredom.

Heck, older playable Doodles are even making a comeback in the midst of coronavirus. Google’s own archive allows you to go back and relive any Doodle from history, and as people’s tedium reaches new levels, they’re digging out the ‘classics’.

Here’s just a few of the best to get you doing something:

Momo the Cat (31 October 2020)

2020’s Halloween Doodle is actually a sequel to a similar one which debuted a few years ago.

Diehard Doodle fans will remember the Magic Cat Academy, which was first shown off as part of Google’s Halloween celebrations in 2016.

As Momo, it’s your job to cast out the mischievous spirits by using your mouse to swipe in the shape of the symbols above the ghosts’ heads before they get too close to you.

Pac-Man 30th anniversary (21 May 2010)

Google’s first ever playable Doodle commemorated the 30th birthday of one of gaming's most iconic characters, brightening up the day for office workers across the world.

Play it here

Robert Moog’s 78th birthday (23 May 2012)

Not a game as such, but this Doodle did allow you to ‘play’ music in browser, in a fitting tribute to Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer.

Google gave users the chance to celebrate his 78th birthday by recording and saving songs on an animated replica of his famous creation.

Play it here

Doctor Who 50th anniversary (23 November 2013)

To mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, Google created a simple but striking game Doodle featuring all 11 Doctors (up to that point) and, of course, Daleks.

Play it here

100th Anniversary of the Crossword Puzzle (21 December 2013)

To commemorate 100 years of crossword puzzles, Google concocted their own with the help of Merl Reagle (one of the best and most well-known crossword constructors) full of clues that also shed light on the history of the puzzle form.

Play it here

Rubik’s Cube (19 May 2014)

Rubik’s Cubes are a great fidget toy, but if you’ve not got one handy by your desk, this Doodle from 2014 offers all the fun of the iconic puzzle, albeit without the ability to peel off and rearrange the coloured stickers for a cheat win.

Play it here

Oskar Fischinger's 117th birthday (17 June 2017)

To honour the musician and animator Oskar Fischinger, Google released an interactive, full-screen design which allowed users to create and share their own pieces of music.

Play it here

44th anniversary of Hip-Hop (11 August 2017)

Celebrating the birth and history of the genre, this Doodle featured custom are by famed graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which users can mix samples from legendary tracks and a serving of Hip Hop history.

Play it here

50 years of Kids Coding (4 December 2017)

Celebrating 50 years of coding languages for kids, this interactive Doodle allowed you help a furry friend across six levels in a quest to gather its favourite food by snapping together coding blocks based on the Scratch programming language for kids.

Play it here