Google Doodle for 2021 Olympics is a Japanese Sports RPG

Today is not the first time that a Google Doodle has been a game, but it is surely the most complicated until now. This Friday morning IIf you open a new Chrome page or search for it, you can click on a pixel-art icon that launches an Olympic-themed JRPG, with animated Studio 4 ° C footage, played right in your browser.

With the Olympic Opening Ceremony taking place today in Tokyo, the year-long and still highly controversial sporting event is taking place under a cloud of Covid-19. Fortunately, such pandemic conditions do not exist in the world that Google has created to mark the event, as the game is set on an idyllic island and is presented in classic JRPG pixel style.

You play as a calico cat, who arrives on the island to participate in the miniature Olympics, with the non-infringing name of the copyright “Doodle Champion Island Games. “And it’s a good game, with not only seven different keyboard-controlled sporting events (more to come, apparently), but characters to talk to, quests to complete, an island to explore, and rankings by. team to join.

Google’s own The fun description of the game is filled with clues as to what is hiding inside:

“Welcome to the Doodle Champion Island Games! Over the next few weeks, join (c) athlete calico Lucky as she explores Doodle Champion Island: a world filled with seven sports mini-games, legendary opponents, dozens of daring side quests, and a few new ones (and old friends. His ultimate goal? Defeat each sports champion to collect all seven sacred scrolls and complete additional hidden challenges across Champion Island in the purr process.

There’s even a very short making-of documentary, in which Google makes it clear that this is the biggest interactive doodle they’ve done so far:

While the project was led by Google US, the goal was to create something that explored and celebrated Japanese myths and culture, so all the art of the game was created by Japanese artists and studios. By watching the video above, you can see that a lot of thought has gone into this. Each of the seven sports is associated with folk tales that the artists said were related, for example archery represents Nasu no Yoichi, a 12th-century samurai famous for his legendary aim with a bow.

It’s extremely playable, and there’s a whole bunch of stuff to do. Besides archery, there is also rugby, table tennis and skateboarding. The game remembers your progress when you close the tab, so you can pick it up and play when you have time. I’m a little surprised to see some typos in the English version, but any complaints are quickly overshadowed by the absolutely gorgeous anime cutscenes created by Studio 4 ° C.

The doodle will apparently be playable throughout the Olympics, so don’t worry, it will be replaced tomorrow with an image commemorating the birth of a 17th century poet you feel guilty that you never heard of. The Games end on August 8, so it looks like you should have until then to complete the island.