Here we have it – the top five entries in our list of the 15 best Google Doodles. These were the five Doodles we discussed the most, returned to after a first visit or shared with others. What do you think of our entries? Let us know on Twitter (@EngageWeb) or in the comments below.
5) Earth Day 2013 – 22nd April, 2013
The Google Doodle has a colourful history when it comes to commemorating Earth Day. Each year, the Earth Day Doodle has grown more and more imaginative, and the 2013 instalment surpassed the rest by a mile. What we saw was a beautiful microcosm complete with a lake and a hillside in bloom, mountains and trees, gusts of wind and ants tunnelling below ground. By clicking on the sun, users watched as seasons passed and the moon changed between cycles.
4) 46th Anniversary of Star Trek’s 1st Broadcast – 8th September, 2012
The Star Trek Doodle gave us a miniature tribute to the immensely popular sci-fi television series, playing on all the action, humour and innuendo of the original Kirk episodes. Crew members beam down to a desert planet and face off against a fearsome ‘L’ shaped Gorn – with amusing consequences.
3) Frank Zamboni’s 112th Birthday – 16th January, 2013
Frank Zamboni was the innovator behind that machine we all have to stare at while we sip our slushies and wait for the ice rink to be smoothed over. The Zamboni Doodle was deeper than many of Google’s other Doodle games. Structured like many an 8-bit arcade classic, the game saw players progress through increasingly difficult stages in which ice skaters whip round and scuff the ice, and you, as the rink’s faithful Zamboni driver, have to smooth it all over again without running out of fuel. While easy in its earliest stages, the game got difficult as the skaters’ scuff marks grew increasingly elaborate. Power ups and bonus items added depth to this fun and unusual game.
There was even a cool infographic to go with it, designed in the style of a Nintendo Entertainment System computer game box and manual.
2) Roswell’s 66th Anniversary – 8th July, 2013
The Roswell Doodle was impressive. Arguably one of the most immersive Doodles to date, it saw users put in full control of a small alien who’s crash landed on a ranch near Roswell, the infamous capital of UFO sightings. A point-and-click adventure relayed to users in a crackly, B-movie inspired animation, players move between screens collecting useful items and solving puzzles.
1) 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man – 21st May, 2010
The Pac-Man Doodle had to be our number one. It’s a game that many of us remember and love – but few of us now go out of our way to play. Google solved that issue by thrusting it in our faces as a Doodle celebrating the original’s 30th anniversary. Oozing nostalgia, it allowed us to relive the simple but beautiful fruit-machine aesthetic of the game’s interface (reshaped now, of course, to incorporate the Google logo) and the protagonist’s iconic blipbop-blipbop movement through the ghost-haunted maze. The developers at Google even included the option for two-player mode, which put the second player in control of Ms. Pac-Man.
We’re guessing millions of people spent a while on this before realising they’d actually come online to perform a Google search.
That concludes our list of the 15 best Google Doodles. They’ve covered everything from music and literature to pop culture and innovation. If there’s anything we can learn from Google’s use of the Doodle, it’s that updating your site with informative or thought-provoking content – however simple – is, from an internet marketing perspective, one of the best ways to engage with users and get people talking about a brand.
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