Google’s new easter egg is a secret text adventure game

Image: Anadolu Agency / Contributor

How much time do Google engineers spend devising elaborate Easter eggs as opposed to actually doing what they’re supposed to? We’re guessing it’s a fair amount, as Google’s myriad services and products hold an impressive amount of hidden treasures which don’t serve any other purpose except to amuse. 

The latest among these, discovered by Reddit user attempt_number_1 (via RockPaperShotgun) is a fully functional text adventure game, hidden inside the development console of Google’s Chrome browser. 

To launch the game, first do a Google search for “text adventure” in Chrome. Then hit Cmd+Option+J  (if you’re on a Mac) or Control+Shift+PC (if you’re on a PC). A console window will open with the following prompt: “Would you like to play a game? (yes/no)”. 

If you type Yes, the game will launch. It looks like this: 

If you aren’t familiar with text adventures, they’re an ancient type of game which gives you text descriptions and reacts to typed commands such as “eat bread” or “flip switch.” This particular game turns you into a big letter G, who’s tasked with finding the rest of the letters in “Google”. 

The game is fairly simple but not completely without depth, which you will realize when you first grab a map and start exploring. 

Have fun playing the game, and check out some other Google Easter eggs here, here and here. Also, Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive list. And to play other text adventures — there are many, and some, like Zork and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, are legendary — go here.