amphibious_ReViews

Google's collection of doodles is often the source of delightful little games that I never expected to play. The minigame-stuffed quasi-RPG that coincided with the Olympics was a massive standout in that regard, and set a bar I'm excited to see the doodle team surpass someday. However, not every doodle game is quite so fleshed-out, with most lasting no more than a few minutes. This short runtime isn't a bad thing though and actually fits the format really well. Celebrating Bubble Tea is a great example of this, fulfilling its role as a doodle game in just five short challenges. In Celebrating Bubble Tea, you act as the owner of a little bubble tea cart and have to fulfill five increasingly precise orders of bubble tea for a cast of colorful characters, most of which you may find familiar if you've interacted with other doodles before. For each order, you're told how much boba, tea, and syrup (or maybe creamer? I don't drink much bubble tea myself) to add to each

I'm really into getting games for free, so much so that I'll check online communities every once in a while just to learn about deals I may have missed when checking on my own. That's how I learned about the closed beta for Google's "Project Stream" that came with a complimentary copy of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which I then applied for immediately. I was accepted into the beta testing group, and while I only had a few opportunities to sit down with it, Project Stream left me extremely impressed. I was playing a full, triple-A game through my browser with almost no input delay. The possibilities that I had floating in my brain for the future of that technology were incredibly exciting. Eventually, Project Stream graduated out of its beta to become the ill-fated Google Stadia, which I tried so hard to love. I bought multiple games on it and I tried the"Pro" subscription, I just never had a good enough reason to play it over my, more convenient, S

Occasionally, Google will surprise me with a new game to play. I'll be using one of their products for one thing or another, and then find a game that I wasn't expecting. Normally, my encounter rate for these games is pretty spread out, but Hop Mania ended up being the start of a relatively rapid burst of Google games that I discovered around the same time, each housed in a different product. Found within the Google Play Games app, Hop Mania is one of the "offline" games that come built-in, alongside the likes of solitaire and Snake . I don't think I even meant to play it for more than a minute or two, but the familiar gameplay coupled with the eerie atmosphere kept me around for a little longer. Seemingly as a tribute to its inspiration, Hop Mania gives you the choice between a frog and a chicken, the mascots of Frogger and Crossy Road respectively, as your playable character. Then you get two on-screen buttons for movement, allowing you to go either forward or

Google has a history of releasing cute little games to commemorate holidays, big sporting events, and anniversaries, so the release of Doodle Champion Island Games for the Tokyo Olympics wasn't much of a surprise. However, with the Olympics delayed a full year by the pandemic, I can't help but believe the developers took advantage of their extra window. Where other Google "Doodle" games are just little time wasters that lose my attention after around five minutes, this was almost a full blown RPG that took over an hour for me to beat, and I couldn't get enough! Playing as a cat named Lucky, you're   challenge is to become the champion of a sport-centric island by beating its inhabitants in their preferred Olympic events. There are nine villages to explore, each with their own sport and their own population of characters and creatures straight out of Japanese folklore. You can technically beat the game by quickly running into each village, winning its respec

Hot Air Balloon continues Google 's tradition of hiding simple, gray-pixel games in their software. Taking influence from both of its predecessors, this game is only accessible if the Google Play Store cannot access the Internet (à la Chrome 's dinosaur), but is exclusive to Android devices (see Play Games ' Whirlybird ). It's a simple title that isn't really worth seeking out but is still a welcome distraction while the Internet is giving you trouble. The gameplay is very straightforward. You direct the titular hot air balloon on its ascent, avoiding sheets of spikes floating randomly throughout the sky. You are constantly earning points just for staying alive, but you can increase your score much faster if you collect the floating orbs (or maybe coins?) that are also mysteriously suspended in your flight path. This is all fine and dandy, but the power-ups are really the fun part. Occasionally, you'll find a floating item that may boost your balloon's sp

  Google Chrome has hosted a simple pixel dinosaur game for years. Whenever you lose your internet connection, Chrome gives you a delightful little distraction while you wait to be productive again. Whirlybird appears to be Google 's follow-up to their dinosaur, providing a fun and simple time-waster with every install of Google Play Games . The monochromatic pixel graphics carry over here, with the exception of the propeller-beanie power-ups. This minor highlight adds an appreciated flare to the game without sacrificing the "feel" established in the Chrome original. As an obvious clone of the mobile gaming legend, Doodle Jump , Whirlybird behaves largely the same. You control a cute little Android as they try to jump higher and higher, with the game ending if it ever reaches the bottom of the screen (or gets spiked). As your Android bounces, you steer by tilting your phone in the direction that it should travel. Landing on a platform during its descent will usually c