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Minecraft has turned 15 this week and Google is marking it with an easter egg
Google is marking Minecraft’s 15th anniversary this week with a special easter egg that takes you back in time. Here’s how you can find it.
Few video games have gone from being an enjoyable way to pass the time to becoming cultural icons. Minecraft is one of those games. The relatively simple game, which was first released on May 17, 2009, has been available on a variety of consoles, systems, and smartphone shops over the years, with almost yearly upgrades that have changed the way players interact with the sandbox world.
Today marks the 15th anniversary of Minecraft, and Google is honouring the occasion in a very consistent manner. As is customary for special occasions, the Mountain View company placed a new Easter egg on its Google Search page.
If you search for Minecraft, Minecraft Bedrock Edition, or Minecraft Steve on Google today, a grass block from the game will display at the bottom of the page once it has fully loaded. Clicking that activates a new mode in which you play as Steve, the game’s famous character, and can break on-screen things to uncover areas of the Minecraft universe. Its sounds and movements match those of the game exactly, and by pushing the pickaxe, you can create more small windows.
Moving the pointer across the screen allows you to pick certain elements of the results page, such as the Knowledge Panel, individual search results, items in the Google News block, and lots more.
As you click on each piece, Steve’s arm moves and begins to break the ‘block.’ Once bits of the Minecraft universe are revealed, you can shatter those individual bricks as well. Cleverly, and similar to the real game, some blocks take longer to shatter than others.
Furthermore, caves and other elements of a Minecraft world can be seen as you scroll down the Google Search page. You may discover ore, TNT, The Nether, and other things as you ‘dig’ down further. The number of blocks you’ve shattered around the globe is displayed on a counter on the left side of the screen.
Meanwhile, the Easter egg doesn’t go much further than that – as far as we can tell – but it’s a pretty delightful tribute to the best-selling video game of all time.
