Google Doodles 50 Years of Dr Who

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of BBC’s iconic sci-fi TV show Dr Who, Google has created a very cool interactive Dr Who game as today’s Google Doodle.

DrWho1The doodle game allows you to kick off by choosing from 11 different character iterations of the good Doctor, each with distinctive features, e.g. Tom Baker’s multi-colored scarf and Matt Smith’s red bow tie.

DrWho2Dr Who’s newest time lord, actor Peter Capaldi, did not make the doodle cut, probably because he is yet to film the much-loved role.

DrWho3Growing up with Tom Baker’s Doctor, naturally I chose him first.

DrWho4The game features a series of challenges to reach the letters in GOOGLE, each level of the game more complex than the last and all involving the dodging of nasty daleks.

DrWho5Once you *rescue* the target letter, you need to make it safely back to the welcoming tardis, which will transport you to the next level.

DrWho6If your chosen character successfully makes it through a level, you will keep him for the next. If however, he gets zapped by a dalek, a new iteration of Dr Who will replace him.

DrWho7Each level features musical refrains from the show and of course the distinctive tardis transporting sound between levels. There’s no sign of any of the Doctor’s companions, or even K9, but with 11 doctor characters, you don’t miss them.

DrWho8If you make it through to the final level (6), you are rewarded with a parade of Doctors celebrating your efforts.

DrWho9Good clean fun and just frustrating enough to keep you entertained for about half an hour. Go sharpen your sonic screwdrivers!

 

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Google Delights Trekkies with Interactive Star Trek Doodle

Star Trek anniversary Google doodleAs soon as I laid eyes on today’s Google Doodle I knew it was going to be my favorite so far. I’m a huge Star Trek fan, so my heart started racing when I typed in Google.com and recognized the familiar uniforms from the Starship Enterprise adorning the letters in the GOOGLE logo. But it’s a far cry from your regular doodle. Today’s Google Doodle is a fully interactive game of sorts.

To mark the 46th anniversary of the iconic TV series Star Trek, Google has put together a really fun commemorative doodle. Ryan Germick, Google doodler and keen Trekkie, led a team of animators to create the multi-scene Star Trek animation to celebrate the show’s launch 46 years ago.Google Doodle Star Trek anniversary

My initial delight in spotting the doodle grew as I discovered the incorporated interactive elements. Clicking on highlighted areas of the Google logo triggers a series of tributes to iconic Star Trek episodes, including “The Trouble With Tribbles” and pilot episode “The Man Trap”, which aired on Sept. 8, 1966. Various letters from the Google logo play the crew of the starship Enterprise. Captain James T. Kirk is played by the central “o” in Google.

There are a few different scenes with various highlighted areas you can click on to make the scene play out. My favorite is the tribbles hiding in the ceiling of the Transporter Room. How many others can you find? After the final animation plays out, Google redirects you to search results for Star Trek the Original Series.

I declare this to be Google’s Best Doodle Ever!  You can watch a full video of the interactions below :

 

 

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