Google Search easter egg joins the fun of playing Wordle

Kyle Bradshaw | Jan 21 2022 - 5:31 pm PT

Google Search has decided to pay tribute to the popular daily word puzzle Wordle with a new easter egg logo.

Last year, Josh Wardle created a game for friends and family that asks you to find the correct five-letter word in six tries or less, with clues similar to the classic game of Mastermind – effectively like the old game show Lingo. This game was later released to the broader public, before exploding in popularity in the last few weeks thanks to fans sharing their score for the day on social media.

Given Wordle’s massive popularity, it’s no surprise to learn that there are numerous fans of the game within Google. To celebrate this moment in pop culture, Google Search has launched a new easter egg that highlights the core of Wordle’s gameplay.

Starting today, when you search for “Wordle” – the easter egg only appears on desktops, for now – you’ll notice that the Google logo in the top-left corner has been replaced with an animated GIF. Instead of the usual four-color “Google,” there are six boxes for letters, in which the word “Column” appears.

Just like when playing Wordle, the letters are marked to show which are correct or incorrect and which need to be moved. The animation plays through guessing “Goalie” then finally “Google.” In all, this is a small, fun way for Google to pay homage to a delightful indie game, though certainly far from the company’s most elaborate easter egg. It’s not known how long this Wordle easter egg will stick around, with some sticking around for years, while others are only visible temporarily.

Humorously, on the search results page for Wordle, there is a knowledge panel on the page offering information about an unrelated game also called “Wordle” which was released a few years ago on Android. Thankfully, the correct Wordle appears as the first search result.