Google 'Atari Breakout': Latest Easter Egg Transforms Image Search Into Classic Game

Having a slow Tuesday at work? Do yourself a favor, load up Google images, and search “Atari breakout.”

You will be treated to the latest Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Easter egg, which honors the 37^th birthday of the classic Atari video game “Breakout.” You know, that old game with a paddle, ball and a bunch of multi-colored bricks for you to eliminate without letting the ball get by you.

Only instead of bricks, Google’s version of "Breakout" turns the collection of images into targets with a really cool effect that alone is worth seeing.

"Breakout" gamers can control their paddle with the directional keys on their keyboard, or by moving the mouse left and right. When a level is cleared, Google does a random image search and turns those images into the bricks for the next stage. For example, this author received "Yell, Shetland" when he made it to Stage 2.

It's not a perfect recreation of "Breakout," as there are some occasional glitches with paddle control. When first loading
"Breakout" or when Google loads the next stage, the paddle can sometimes get lost because of the screen size. These glitches can make the game frustrating and result in scores lower than you may be used to.

Check it out because it's a totally awesome way to waste some time. Just don’t blame us if your boss gets mad at you for playing at work.

For the record, below is my high score after running into game glitches (I swear!) in Stage 2. Let us know in the comments section if you do better.