Google Doodle honors the father of game cartridge and lets you create your own game!

Google Doodle honors the father of game cartridge and lets you create your own game!

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01 December 2022

The first Google Doodle for the month of December is dedicated to Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, as it marks the 82nd anniversary of his birth. Lawson is honored by Google for the fact that he was the inventor of the game cartridge and although he did not achieve any huge commercial success with his creations, he paved the way for companies such as Atari for the first steps of the gaming industry!

In today's Google Doodle you will have the opportunity to learn some facts about Lawson, as well as play five 2D simple games. The icing on the cake, however, is the pause button in the top left corner! Tapping on it opens a new user interface in front of you with tools to create your own game or edit the environment of the 5 available games! Here we should mention that the pause button is also an inspiration from Lawson.

  • The first game you will find is a classic brick breaker where you have to break the bricks with the ball (like Arkanoid).
  • The second is a platformer reminiscent of the first Mario games, where you have to face enemies, move boxes and avoid traps until you reach the finish flag.
  • The third game looks simple at the beginning, but in its development you will have to use various characters and think carefully about your strategy to collect all the coins.
  • In the fourth game we have the same goal as the second, that is to reach the finishing flag. The gameplay mechanics are similar, but there is one important element that differentiates it, and you will discover it soon! Also, if you enter edit mode by pressing the pause button, try zooming out to see the secret message...
  • Finally, in the fifth game you play as Jerry Lawson, that is the honored person! The character has some extra abilities, but this mission is the most complicated of them all.
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