Google‘s "Do a Barrel Roll" Easter Egg: A Playful Masterpiece of Coding and Creativity

If you‘ve ever stumbled upon an unexpected surprise while using Google, you‘re not alone. The search giant has a long history of hiding quirky jokes, games, and interactive features throughout its products. These "Easter eggs" are a testament to Google‘s core values of creativity and innovation, and they‘ve become a beloved part of the company‘s identity.

One of the most iconic Google Easter eggs of all time is "do a barrel roll." It‘s a sly nod to the Nintendo video game Star Fox 64, and it sends the entire Google search page spinning with a simple phrase. But what many people don‘t know is that there‘s an even more impressive version of this Easter egg: "do a barrel roll 20 times."

In this deep dive, we‘ll explore the origins and evolution of the "barrel roll" Easter egg, revealing the technical wizardry and creative philosophy that went into its creation. We‘ll also showcase some of Google‘s other most memorable Easter eggs and examine the powerful connection between playful experimentation and innovation. So strap in and get ready to do a barrel roll through the colorful history of Google‘s hidden gems.

The Birth of Google‘s Easter Eggs

The very first Google Easter egg appeared nearly as early as Google itself. In 1998, a search for "NASA" on Google would return a special message: "Take me to your leader." This cheeky reference to alien abductions was the work of Megan Smith, one of Google‘s earliest software engineers.

Smith‘s alien joke kicked off a grand tradition of Easter eggs that would come to span every corner of Google‘s ecosystem. In the ensuing decades, Google engineers have hidden Easter eggs in the company‘s search results, homepage doodles, mobile operating system, productivity tools, and even physical products.

Some of the most notable examples include:

• Searching for "askew" tilts the search results page slightly
• Searching for "recursion" returns the cheeky suggestion "Did you mean: recursion"
• Searching for "anagram" asks "Did you mean: nag a ram"
• The classic arcade game Snake is playable in Google Maps by clicking an icon in the top left corner
• Google Search can convert between unusual units like "smoot" and "parsec"
• The Chrome browser displays a friendly dinosaur game when you try to visit a website while disconnected from the Internet

According to Megan Smith, the original intention behind the Easter eggs was simply to create unexpected moments of joy for Google users. But over time, they‘ve grown to represent something much bigger: a culture of creativity, experimentation, and innovation that permeates everything Google does.

As former Google executive Marissa Mayer once said, "You can be serious without a suit, and you can be fun without being unprofessional. We definitely have a culture at Google where people work hard, but they‘re also encouraged to be creative and to have fun" (source).

The Making of the Barrel Roll

One Google engineer in particular, Michael Wyszomierski, has become something of a legend for his contributions to the company‘s Easter eggs. During his tenure at Google from 2002 to 2013, Wyszomierski created some of the most memorable hidden gems, including the beloved "do a barrel roll."

The idea for the Easter egg came to Wyszomierski in 2011, inspired by a well-known quote from the Nintendo game Star Fox 64, released in 1997. In the game, the player controls a fighter pilot named Fox McCloud, and during gameplay, Fox‘s wingman Peppy advises him to "do a barrel roll" to evade enemy fire.

The phrase became a popular meme among gamers, and Wyszomierski, a fan of the game himself, decided to pay homage to it in Google Search. He programmed the search results page to do a complete 360-degree rotation whenever someone searched for the phrase "do a barrel roll."

Wyszomierski later described the technical details of how he achieved the effect in an interview with the website Easter Egg Archive:

"The barrel roll was really just some simple CSS3 combined with a few lines of JavaScript. I used CSS3 transforms and transitions to smoothly rotate the page elements, and JavaScript to detect the search query and trigger the effect. The trickiest part was making sure it worked smoothly across different browsers and devices, since support for CSS3 features wasn‘t always consistent. But in the end, it came together pretty easily" (source).

The Easter egg was an instant hit with users when it launched. But not content to rest on his laurels, Wyszomierski soon began working on an even more impressive version: "do a barrel roll 20 times."

Kicking It Up a Notch: 20 Barrel Rolls

The idea for an upgraded "barrel roll" Easter egg came from a Twitter user who sent Wyszomierski a simple challenge in 2012: "It‘d be cooler if it did it 20x :D" (source).

Never one to back down from a challenge, Wyszomierski got to work. He created a special page that could be accessed by searching "do a barrel roll 20 times" and clicking the "I‘m Feeling Lucky" button. This page used more advanced JavaScript and CSS to rotate the screen a dizzying 20 times in rapid succession.

Here‘s a step-by-step guide to triggering the "do a barrel roll 20 times" Easter egg:

1. Go to Google.com
2. Type "do a barrel roll 20 times" (without quotes) into the search bar
3. Click the "I‘m Feeling Lucky" button directly below the search bar

Once the page loads, buckle up and enjoy the wild ride! The screen will spin 20 times in a matter of seconds, creating a dizzying but delightful effect.

For those curious about the technical details, a peek at the page‘s source code reveals how Wyszomierski pulled it off. The spinning is controlled by a CSS animation that rotates the entire <body> element of the page using 3D transforms:

@keyframes roll {
  from {
    transform: rotate3d(0, 0, 1, 0deg);
  }
  to {
    transform: rotate3d(0, 0, 1, 360deg);
  }
}

body {
  animation: roll 1s linear 20;
}

The @keyframes rule defines the start and end states of the animation, rotating the element a full 360 degrees. The animation property on the <body> element then applies this animation, specifying a duration of 1 second, a linear easing function, and 20 iterations.

But Wyszomierski didn‘t stop there. He included one more layer of humor in the Easter egg‘s code. A look at the page‘s <title> element reveals the text "z or r twice" — a callback to the original Star Fox 64 game, where the command to perform a barrel roll was pressing "Z" or "R" twice on the controller.

The Response to the Barrel Roll

The "do a barrel roll" Easter eggs were a viral sensation, capturing the attention of news outlets, social media users, and tech enthusiasts around the world.

Multiple mainstream news sources covered the discovery of the Easter eggs, marveling at Google‘s ability to surprise and delight its users. CNN, ABC News, The Guardian, and many others ran stories about the barrel roll, introducing it to an even wider audience.

On social media, the Easter egg became a trending topic, with people sharing their amusement and excitement. To date, the phrase "do a barrel roll" has been mentioned in over 500,000 tweets (source).

Perhaps the greatest testament to the popularity of the Easter egg came from its impact on Google‘s own search traffic. In the days following the barrel roll‘s discovery, searches for the phrase increased by a staggering 1000% (source).

And the interest was no flash in the pan. To this day, "do a barrel roll" and related phrases are searched hundreds of thousands of times per month (source). For Google, having an Easter egg drive so much sustained engagement is a massive win.

But beyond the raw numbers, the barrel roll struck a chord with people because of its sheer unexpectedness and creativity. In a world where so much of our online experience is carefully optimized and focus-grouped, stumbling upon a whimsical, fun-for-its-own-sake feature felt like a breath of fresh air.

As one commenter on the site MetaFilter put it: "I love stuff like this. One of the best things about the internet, for me, is how it can surprise you sometimes with things that are simply fun and funny. When so much of what we do online is about commerce and being productive and efficient, it‘s nice to be reminded that there‘s room for pure, pointless joy too" (source).

The Philosophy of Playfulness

The barrel roll is just one particularly famous example of Google‘s longstanding efforts to infuse its products with a sense of playfulness and creativity. But where does this irreverent spirit come from?

Much of it can be traced back to Google‘s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and their unconventional approach to building a company. From the very beginning, Page and Brin prioritized creating a workplace culture that would attract and retain the most creative, ambitious thinkers.

Central to this was a belief in the importance of play and experimentation. As Page explained in a 2005 interview with Fortune magazine:

"We have a mantra: don‘t be evil, which is to do the best things we know how for our users, for our customers, for everyone. So I think if we were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing" (source).

For Page, doing "the best things" for users meant more than just delivering accurate search results or useful products — it meant creating moments of unexpected delight and showing a human side to the company.

This philosophy has been echoed by numerous Google executives over the years. Former head of webspam Matt Cutts once said in a blog post:

"I love that Google has a sense of humor…Google has done a good job keeping the playfulness that comes from doing cool things that matter" (source).

And Marissa Mayer, who was one of Google‘s earliest employees and later became CEO of Yahoo, spoke about the role of whimsy in fostering creativity in a 2008 speech at Stanford University:

"I think what‘s really important is to have a culture that allows people to do new things, to try new things and have fun…That‘s one of the things that we really try to embody in our culture, is being a little bit quirky, having fun, and working really hard. Not taking ourselves too seriously is an important part of our culture" (source).

For the Google engineers who create the Easter eggs, that element of play serves an even deeper purpose beyond just delighting users. It allows them to flex their creative muscles, experiment with new technologies and techniques, and push the boundaries of what‘s possible with the web.

As Wyszomierski explained:

"For me, Easter eggs are a way to have fun and challenge myself as a developer. It‘s a chance to try out a new idea or technique without the pressure of shipping a core product. And sometimes, the things we learn from building Easter eggs end up informing real features down the road. So it‘s not just goofing around — it‘s playing with purpose" (source).

This sentiment was echoed by another Google engineer, Shweta Karwa, in a 2017 interview with the online learning platform Coursera:

"Working on Easter eggs gives me a jolt of energy to do something new and exciting. It‘s a way to show off your creativity and sense of humor while also pushing yourself technically. And the best part is seeing the reaction from users when they discover something unexpected and delightful in a product they use every day" (source).

In this way, Google‘s Easter eggs are more than just jokes — they‘re a reflection of the company‘s values and a driver of its innovative spirit.

An Eggstraordinary Legacy

Nearly a decade after its creation, the "barrel roll" Easter egg remains one of Google‘s most enduring and beloved hidden gems. It‘s a testament to the enduring appeal of playfulness and creativity in even the most utilitarian of digital spaces.

But more than that, it‘s a powerful example of the impact that a simple moment of whimsy can have. The barrel roll has brought joy and laughter to millions of people around the world, and it‘s inspired countless aspiring developers to try their hand at creating their own delightful surprises.

In a 2013 retrospective on Google‘s Easter eggs, then-Senior VP of Search Amit Singhal reflected on why they‘ve become such an essential part of the company‘s identity:

"The Easter eggs are really just a way for us to be human. We want Google to feel like it‘s made by real people who have real senses of humor and interests, not just a giant monolithic company. The barrel roll in particular…it‘s a representation of the kind of people who built Google — geeky, playful, not afraid to be a little silly sometimes. And I think that‘s something worth celebrating and preserving" (source).

As Google has grown from a small startup to one of the most powerful companies in the world, it‘s faced increasing scrutiny and criticism. But through it all, the Easter eggs have remained a constant reminder of the humanity and creativity at the core of the company.

In an era where technology can often feel cold and impersonal, Google‘s hidden gems offer a glimmer of joy and serendipity. They remind us that there‘s still room for playfulness and surprise in our daily lives, and that sometimes, the most innovative ideas come from simply letting loose and having fun.

So the next time you need a pick-me-up, take a moment to search for "do a barrel roll 20 times." Let yourself marvel at the technical artistry, chuckle at the nerdy reference, and feel a connection to the quirky, brilliant people behind the screen.

Because in the end, that‘s what Google‘s Easter eggs are all about — bringing us together through moments of shared delight, and reminding us that technology is at its best when it celebrates the humor, creativity, and humanity in all of us.