Google I/O countdown lets you enjoy a nice game of Breakout while you wait

The countdown to Google I/O has started.

What you need to know

• The Google I/O website now features a countdown to the big day.
• Clicking on any of the colored orbs to start a game of Breakout.
• Collecting the letters to solve the puzzle will present registered users with a badge.

Google I/O is about a month away, which seems like forever in the tech world. To help you pass the time while you wait, Google has provided a new puzzle game on the conference homepage. Navigating to the site, you’ll be met with a new countdown page with several colored orbs spread across the page. Clicking on one of these will open up a game of Breakout.

Click to start the game and move your mouse around to get rid of the rows of colors orbs. There are some letters hidden in these orbs, and you’ll want to catch those to spell out the hidden word. Once you figure it out, you can enter the term in the Chrome Dev Tools console (Shift+Ctrl+J for Windows/Linux), where you’ll be awarded a badge. It’s easy enough, and the missing word has already been figured out (via 9to5Google) so you may be able to just skip a step to get the badge, of you can play the game anyways. The best part is you can play it on any of the best Android phones as well, not just your computer.

With 33 days left until the Google I/O conference, you’ll have to play a lot of Breakout to pass the time. You can also read up on our Google I/O 2021 preview to join us in speculating what the company might announce at the conference. After canceling last year’s event, Google is bound to come back stronger than ever this year.