By Laine Penney
Ever since Linewize was installed into all of the school computers, every chance of student leisure has been plucked away. The games that students once knew have disappeared, and they have only been met with the grueling “content blocked” screen when trying to play their favorite games.
Because of this, students have no outlet to relax or celebrate their finished hard work (or, their lack of). But, there is a solution to this problem. One Google search leads students to games that the school can’t block, as they’re found without a click of a link. Just search up “Google games,” and you’ll be met with a wide variety of small games, called Google Doodles, with various difficulties and easy to understand gameplay. They’re perfect to pass the time as they’re fun, quick, and even educational.
Google has games that require diligence such as Snake, where you play as a snake that grows in length as it gobbles on spawning fruits. Have you ever seen those Snake speedrunners that have to quickly press the arrow keys so the snake doesn’t run into itself because it takes up the majority of the space? Crazy work. Absolute tech. Anyways, it’s a very well known game that’s easy to play, and commonly played by students who have free time after finishing work.
There are other recognizable games such as Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Block Breaker, which train other skills such as critical thinking and quick reaction speed. It took me ages to figure out how to play Minesweeper. I’ve also seen multiple people with a chronic addiction to Solitaire. One of those people may have been me at some point.
They also have unique interpretations of games such as Tic-Tac-Go and Color Tiles. As familiar as they seem, they offer more lively gameplay than its inspiration. Both matching games encourage strategy and present challenges to overcome. They even have PAC-MAN, where instead of their classic map, they have a special map shaped like the Google logo.
Google has a couple of sports games such as Baseball, Cricket, and Petanque. The goal of these games is to rack up the most points. In the case of Petanque, you get to play against people around the world.
Speaking of Petanque, Google frequently makes games to celebrate events, people, and cultures of the world. Their game-making game, Jerry Lawson, celebrates the revolutionary African American computer engineer of the same name. They also have a matching game called Pani Puri, celebrating South Asian street food. There is also a Pony Express game, where you deliver mail across the states in celebration of its 155th anniversary.
While most Google games have very easy gameplay, some of them offer unique tales and more complex play styles. Though some games are recognizable and have simple play styles such as the Angry Birds-like game Garden Gnomes, and the card matching game Half Moon, some of them have completely original stories behind them such as Champion Island and Halloween, while offering interesting gameplay such as drawing on screen or adapting to different challenges. Popcorn is a fun online multiplayer game where you can play as different popcorn characters with different skillsets in order to be the last one standing.
You can also simply play the aquatic-themed Memory game. Take a wild guess as to how it trains the mind.
All of these games have wonderfully different art styles that make each game unique and beautiful. Every visual is hand drawn and animated by talented artists that breathe new life into the games, that further add to the appeal.
Out of the entire collection of Google Doodles, my favorite game has to be Half Moon. It celebrates the lunar cycle while offering high stakes gameplay. You play a card game against the Half Moon, placing cards based on moon phases, competing to score the most points.
If you beat the Half Moon in three games in a row, you win and earn a special card that can be used once per playthrough. The game used to be periodically updated based on the season, meaning unique cards were available. It’s permanently stuck in March’s lunar cycle as of currently. Regardless, it is my favorite game to pass the time when I’ve finished with my work.
Overall, the Google Doodles collection offers a huge variety of games with gameplay that appeals to everyone. While also winding up to be educational and helps develop skills that can be used for school. That’s right. It’s better than your favorite game. Does Expedition 33 teach you about computer engineering? Does Elden Ring teach you about the lunar cycle? I wouldn’t think so. Screw The Sims 4. Screw Grand Theft Auto. Minesweeper is the best game to have ever existed.
Wait, what do you mean Linewize didn’t block Coolmathgames? Nevermind then. Papa’s Cheeseria is the best game.
beniciapaw.com 