Play Google Atari Breakout
👇 Scroll down to start the experience!
Quick Facts
Google Images turns into a brick wall, and every picture becomes a tile you can break with the ball.
2013-05
Restored
(Discontinued by Google)
Try the Easter Egg
The Original Easter Egg
How It Started
In May 2013, Google hid an Atari Breakout game inside Google Images to mark the arcade classic's 37th anniversary. When people searched for "Atari Breakout," the image results did not stay still for long.
The thumbnails gathered into rows, like a wall built out of small pictures, and the results page quietly became a game board.
What It Did
A ball rose from the bottom of the screen, a paddle waited underneath it, and the image tiles became the bricks. Players guided the paddle with a mouse, trackpad, arrow keys, or touch, trying to keep the ball alive while the wall broke apart one picture at a time.
Scores, lives, beeps, pause controls, and score sharing made it feel like a tiny arcade cabinet tucked into Google Images. Clear the board and the game moved on to another layout, ready for the ball to start knocking again.
Impact and Reach
Coverage of the 2013 trick kept returning to the same hook: Google Images suddenly became a game board. Because the surprise happened right where people were already searching, screenshots and short posts could explain it in a glance.
That instant transformation made it one of Google's clearest examples of a familiar results page turning into something you could actually play.
Its Discontinuation
The original Google Images version later disappeared from live Google. Available evidence points to a removal around May 2020, though Google did not publish a precise retirement date for the Easter egg.
Google's newer Block Breaker game is a separate Search feature. This page preserves the older 2013 Google Images Atari Breakout experience, where the search thumbnails themselves became the bricks.
The Restored Experience
What’s Different Here
This restoration keeps the image-wall setup, the paddle-and-ball loop, scoring, lives, board clearing, and the brief between-board pause that made the original feel like a secret game unfolding inside Search.
The main difference is practical: the board is rebuilt locally so it can resize cleanly, respond to touch, and keep the action smooth on modern browsers.
The Easter Egg Experience
Click the button above and the Google Images-style results will settle into a Breakout board. Move the paddle, listen for the brick beeps, and keep the ball bouncing as each image tile disappears.
If you miss, you lose a life. If you clear the whole wall, the game gives you another board and the pace keeps nudging forward. You can pause, mute, share your score, play again, or return to the image results whenever you need a breather.
How to Try It
- Click the button above to open the restored Google Images board.
- Wait a moment while the image results form the brick wall.
- Move the paddle with your mouse, trackpad, arrow keys, or touch.
- Bounce the ball into the image tiles until the wall breaks away.
- Clear the board, collect the extra life, and keep going into the next layout.
The newer Google Block Breaker game has its own blocks, power-ups, and full-screen card. Atari Breakout is remembered for a different magic trick: the pictures you came to see suddenly became the pieces you had to break.
Final Thoughts
Google Atari Breakout worked because it felt like a game had opened inside an everyday page. This restored version keeps that door open, so the image wall can still gather, bounce, beep, and fall apart tile by tile.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Google Atari Breakout?
Google Atari Breakout was a 2013 Google Images Easter egg made for the 37th anniversary of Atari's Breakout.
When the original was live, a search for "Atari Breakout" made the image results gather into a playable Breakout board. The thumbnails became bricks, the paddle appeared at the bottom, and the whole results page turned into a quick arcade game.
Is the original Google Atari Breakout still available?
The live Google Images Easter egg is gone, and Google never published an exact removal date. The best available record points to around May 2020. This page restores the older Google Images version so it can still be played.
Is this the same as Google Block Breaker?
No. Google Block Breaker is a newer Search game with its own full-screen card, colored blocks, and power-ups. Atari Breakout was the 2013 Google Images trick where the search thumbnails themselves became the bricks.
How do I play Atari Breakout here?
Start the page, wait for the image tiles to form the wall, and keep the ball bouncing with the paddle.
- Click the button above to open the game board.
- Move the paddle with your mouse, trackpad, arrow keys, or touch.
- Hit the ball into the image tiles to break them.
- Keep the ball from falling below the paddle.
When the wall is gone, the next board appears and the game keeps going.
Can I play it on a phone or tablet?
Yes. The restored board supports touch controls, so you can drag the paddle on a phone or tablet. Desktop players can use the mouse, trackpad, or arrow keys.
What happens after I clear the image wall?
The game moves into another layout and gives you an extra life. The ball comes back, the wall returns, and the next round asks you to keep your rhythm a little longer.
Your score carries on until the run ends, so clearing one board is the beginning of the next small challenge.
Why do the images become bricks?
That was the whole charm of the original Google Images Easter egg. It used the image search results as the game pieces, so the thing you came to browse became the thing you had to break.
Does the restored game have sound and score sharing?
Yes. The restored game keeps the arcade-style beeps, score display, mute control, score-sharing button, and play-again flow, while keeping the board responsive on current browsers.
