Creators of programs, websites, movies, video games and series repeatedly surprise users with so-called Easter eggs. Here’s a selection of the most creative and funniest “Easter eggs” that Google currently has hiding on their websites.

answer to the question of life

With a little suggestion, Google sheds oil around the long-discussed question whether Han Solo (Harrison Ford) or Gredo (Paul Blake) shot in “Star Wars” in the first place. In the 1977 original, Han Solo pulled the trigger first. The scene was later reworked and Gredo shot the first, allowing Han Solo to act in self-defense. If you set the language you use on Google to English and search for “Han Shot first” (Eng. “Han Shot first”), you’ll see “Did You meaning: Greedo shot first” (Eng. “Is your Meaning: Greedo) will get the first shot” as an improvement suggestion). Shot ‘mean’) is displayed. When searching for “grido shot first”, the whole thing works the other way round.

There is also a comparable Easter Egg to the popular comedy “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray (71). In the film, originally called Groundhog Day, Murray’s character lives the same day over and over again. In English search, users will see “Did you mean: Groundhog Day” when searching for a movie title. If you click on it multiple times, you see the same improvement suggestion displayed over and over again.

Fantasy fans will also find a special Easter Egg in the English search – with a query for “The One Ring” (dated “The One Ring”) from “The Lord of the Rings”. As a suggestion, users will see “do you mean: my precious” (dated “do you mean ‘my precious'”). It’s definitely a nod to the character Gollum (Andy Serkis).

A series highlight is hidden in Google Maps. Street View features the TARDIS from the science-fiction classic Doctor Who on Earls Court Road in London. Just enter the address “238 Earls Court Road” into the search. Depending on your point of view, the space-time machine is hiding behind a white truck.

Google also donated a funny Easter Egg to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams (1952–2001). Google’s pocket calculator will display “42” if you’re looking for “the answer to life, the universe, and all the other questions.”

Games and little helpers

The search engine has a number of well-known additional functions – including the already mentioned calculator, a translation function, or the display of the current time. But there are many other little assistants and little games on Google as well. For example, “heads or tails” represents a coin toss. And under “Throw the dice” (each without the quotation marks), users can throw the dice with different sides according to them. Meanwhile, a “random number generator” outputs random sequences of digits.

Google has also integrated several simple games. Includes a version of the Windows classic “Minesweeper”, a version from the long-running “Pac-Man” series, and a “Solitaire” game. There is also a Google version of “Snake”, which is particularly popular on older Nokia cell phones under “Play Snake”.