Lifehacker’s 2014 Google Easter Egg Guide

Just in time for the super-long weekend, here’s an indulgence that won’t rot your teeth or expand your waistline: a complete list of Google easter eggs.

Easter egg picture from Shutterstock

For the uninitiated, in this context “easter eggs” are surprising results, hidden games and other tweaks that show up when you search for specific phrases. We’ve run versions of this guide in the past, but it was due for an update to add newer options (and remove some older ones that no longer work — I miss the ability to search for “binary” and see the number of results in binary).

For this roundup, we’re looking purely at easter eggs which Google has actually built into the site, rather than “search bomb” results where searching for a particular term produces a surprising result. (Those are fun, but won’t necessarily work long-term, given that Google constantly tweaks its search algorithms. The introduction of Google Instant, where search results are predicted as you type, also means people are much less likely to see the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button anyway.)

Unless we specify otherwise, you activate the easter egg by searching for the suggested term on Google’s own site. We’ve included links where appropriate, but some easter eggs only work as you are typing.

Life, The Universe And Everything

Search for the answer to life, the universe and everything and Google pays tribute to the late, great Douglas Adams.[imgclear]

YouTube Snake

Hold down the left arrow key while watching a YouTube video and you’ll get to play the classic phone game Snake. (Availability for this can vary depending on the video.)[imgclear]

The TARDIS Map

Tricky to get to, but one of our favourites: the TARDIS interior on Street View. To access it, visit this link and then press the Up key on your keyboard.

Do The Harlem Shake

Search for do the Harlem Shake on YouTube and Google will, well, shake up the results.

Zerg Rush

Search for Zerg Rush and your search results will be transformed into a game where you have to stop the letter ‘O’ from destroying your search results.
[imgclear]

Recursion

Search for recursion and Google asks: “Did you mean recursion?” We love a good geek gag.[imgclear]

The Blink Search

An HTML tribute gag : search for “blink html” or “blink tag” and everything will blink.

Once In A Blue Boon

Search for once in a blue moon and you probably won’t get the result you expect.[imgclear]

Barrel Roll

Type “Do a barrel roll” into Google and the site will itself do a barrel roll. (You do have to be on the Google site for this to work; it won’t operate from a link or if you use your browser search bar.)
[imgclear]

DogeTube

Search for doge meme on YouTube and there will be doge. Much doge.

The Loneliest Number

Search for the loneliest number and Google’s built-in calculator will make a neat musical joke.[imgclear]

Conway’s Game Of Life

Search for “Conway’s Game Of Life” and a version of this well-known life simulation appears on the screen. This is oddly soothing.

Tilt

Search for the word ’tilt’ on your mobile phone, Google will tilt the results screen. Similar effects can be seen with ’tilted’ and ‘askew’.
[imgclear]

Unicorns

Visit Google Play and click on Search without entering anything for happy unicorn fun time.

Anagrams

Search for anagram and Google will helpfully ask: “did you mean nag a ram?” Yes. Yes I did.
[imgclear]

Spotted an (official) Google easter egg we’ve missed? Share it in the comments.