Play Atari Breakout straight from image search with Google’s hidden game

What would Google be without hidden easter eggs and random doodles commemorating random birthdays of famous people and inventions? Not as awesome, that’s what. Yep, the search engine has yet another easter egg (hidden, entertaining features developers build into a website or program) tucked away into a G-product — this time it’s an adaptation of Atari Breakout.

The classic arcade game was introduced in 1976, an evolution of Atari’s previous game Pong, and involves smashing through rows of coloured bricks with a slider and a ball. Google’s version, designed to mark 37 years since the game’s creation, is hidden in Image search, and can be accessed simply by typing in ‘Atari breakout’.

Google runs the search as normal, but the images soon transform into the rainbow coloured stripes you need to hit with one of five bouncing balls. As the levels progress, it’ll add in extra layers for you to destroy. The game also features annoying authentic beeping sounds that you’ll hear whenever your ball meets a brick, and the ability to share your high score to Google Plus.

Google’s not the only tech company to include Breakout as an easter egg in one of its products. If you went to the about menu and pressed and held the centre button on the first iPod, you could play a quick game on its tiny pixelated screen. Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were also involved in the development of a Breakout prototype for Atari, although the company eventually went with their own design because, as geek legend has it, they couldn’t understand Wozniak’s creation well enough to replicate it.