Google Creates Enjoyable and Free Where’s Waldo Game, Featuring a Hidden Taylor Swift Version

Image: Google

Nicole Carpenter
is a senior reporter specializing in investigative features about labor issues in the game industry, as well as the business and culture of games.

Google’s latest Doodle is a Where’s Waldo?-styled hidden object game that pulls the 25 most searched things of the past 25 years into one colorful, chaotic image. Google’s The Most Searched Playground is a playable review of Google — and the world’s — history. Where else will you find Albert Einstein, Pikachu, and Taylor Swift all hanging out?

To play, you just start clicking around. Look closely at the image and you’ll see some characters or images stand out — like, say, a statue of Pikachu. Click on it, and it’ll check Pikachu off from the list of hidden things. That list will show you what to look for, but if you click on an item — like, say, Naruto — you’ll get a hint on where to look. (“The most searched anime is making a splash,” the Naruto hint reads.) If you need more help, follow the direction marker near the hint; it’ll lead you to the area it’s in.

Today’s #GoogleDoodle deserves a closer look. Explore the Doodle today to play → https://t.co/LXpJ7tLWbS #YearInSearch pic.twitter.com/rNRX9Z2cUe

— Google (@Google) December 12, 2023

There’s even a hidden Taylor Swift mini-game within the hidden object game — The Most Searched Playground (Taylor’s Version). There are ten secret clues related to Swift, which are related to several of her songs. When you solve the puzzle, you get a letter and a hint for a “missing key,” used to open up a website that’s spelled out when you put all the given letters together. Like Google’s puzzle vault, this is a task for Taylor Swift fans to solve together. (And they have: If you need help, check out this Reddit thread.)

 

Source: Polygon