It’s that time of year for all things spooky – and Google is getting on board.
The search engine’s home page has been transformed into a ghoulish Doodle and game in time for Halloween.
The game invites players to help Momo the magical cat battle ghostly creatures.
Here’s what it’s all about and how to play.
How to play the Halloween Google Doodle game?
This Halloween’s Google Doodle features an underwater cat and lots of scary fish, ghosts and other underwater creatures.
To play, head to the Google homepage where you will see the Google Doodle with the word Google written in ghostly letters and the letter “o” turned into a “play” button. Click on it.
Kicking off with a short animated video, the Google Doodle sets the scene, showing a little cat dreaming about battling ghosts, before jumping into the sea with a magic wand and a determined look on its face.
Now underwater, the game begins – you will play as the cat, which becomes surrounded by ghouls that can be defeated by casting spells.
“Deafeat a ghost by drawing its symbol anywhere. Draw the symbols in the order that they appear,” the Doodle explained.
The ghosts moving towards your character each have a shape, such as a line, arrow, triangle or swirl, drawn above them.
Draw them with your mouse in order to make them go away before the ghosts reach you or you will lose a life, symbolised by hearts at the top of the screen.
Some will have more than one shape to draw, with the patterns of shapes becoming more difficult as more ghoules appear.
If you draw a symbol that features above more than one creature, it will hit each of the creatures with that shape.
To progress through the levels, you will have a boss to battle, which will require multiple attacks by drawing shapes.
What are the levels?
- Level 1: Sunlight zone. Aquatic foe: Immortal jellyfish
- Level 2: Twilight zone. Aquatic foe: Boop boops
- Level 3: Midnight zone. Aquatic foe: Vampire squad
- Level 4: The abyss: Aquatic foe: Anglerfish
- Level 5: The trenches. Aquatic foe: Unknown
What inspired the game and who created it?
The Doodle was created by the makers of the 2016 Magic Cat Academy Doodle which was made for that year’s Halloween.
That year’s Doodle featured a similar game which was set in a magic school and was inspired by a real-life black cat called Momo. This year’s game is a sequel.
People involved in making the Doodle game are artists Olivia When, Juliana Chen and Alyssa Winans, design team leads Jessica Yu, Brian Kaas, and producer Colin Duffy among others.
The team said: “This Halloween, we’re picking up right where our2016 Magic Cat Academy Doodleleft off with a subaquatic shriek-quel!
“Dive in with Momo the cat to help new friends and reach new depths in her adventure against the Big Boss ghost and its school of ghouls…underwater.”
What are the AR special features?
Google has also created some fun, spooky augmented reality features for Halloween.
On you mobile phone, head to Google and search for Halloween, Jack-o-lantern, human skeleton, cat, dog, or German Shepherd on your mobile phone.
This will bring up a range of AR characters that you can project into your space.
When is Halloween 2020 and why do we celebrate?
Halloweenis always marked on 31 October – the eve of the Christian feast ofAll Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day– which this year means it will be observed on Saturday.
The word Halloween dates back to the 18th century, and means “hallowed (or holy) evening”.
The religious observance gives worshippers the opportunity to remember martyrs and saints, and originates as far back as the 4th century, although the date was not moved to 1 November until 837AD.
There has been much debate over Halloween’s origins – some believe that it is solely a Christian holiday, with others tracing its roots to Parentalia, the Roman festival of the dead. Some say it is based on Samhain, a Celtic festivalmarking the end of the harvest season and the onset of the cold darkness of winter.
The Celtic festival saw people carrying out various traditions and rituals to keep spirits at bay at a time many believed the world was more vulnerable to them, while it is also thought Christian missionaries had their own festival tied into All Saints’ Day, which involved lighting candles and offering prayers to the dead.
