Google celebrates Earth Day with recycled two-year old game – here's how to play

Cartoon bee and foliage making up the word 'Google' for Earth Day bee pollinating game
(Image credit: Google)

Google isn't one to let special days pass by without marking the occasion with a little something. In this case, it's Earth Day, set for Friday April 22. And you can play a super mellow game that'll teach you all about the importance of bees instead of googling whatever it was you visited the search engine for. 

Players will take control of a fat little bumblebee tasked with grabbing pollen from ripe and ready flowers. The plants are color-coded, as is the pollen, and there are ready-to-be-fertilized blooms, so you know where to deposit your sweet, sticky load. 

The Google Earth Day game appears to be the same one trotted out in 2020 which celebrated the 50th Earth Day. This year's game also starts with a 'happy 50th anniversary of Earth Day' message, so the whole thing looks to have been recycled – which is fitting. 

You'll learn all kinds of interesting facts about bees and honey, to the point where you're definitely going to get the anxiety sweats. If you didn't already know that bees are a keystone species whose absence could potentially topple the ecosystem, there's that. And with bees disappearing, how is the amount of honey on supermarket shelves sustainable? 

The game is brimming with fun facts that will torment you for the rest of the day, while the soothing music and droning buzzing sounds wash over you. Here's how you can play, and learn all about our stripey, fuzzy little friends at the same time.  

Cartoon bee taking pollen between flowers in Google Earth Day game

(Image credit: Google)

How to play Google Earth Day game

Just type 'Earth Day into your browser and you'll be presented with an animated bee beneath the search bar. Click on it to open a pop-up emblazoned with a very green Google logo and another bee. Hit the play button to start the game.

You can skip the short intro if you want, or you can sit tight and read the brief text. After that, you'll get a quick example of how to play. 

In a nutshell, you use your mouse cursor to get the bee to hover over pollen-spewing plants. It'll automatically pick up one ball of pollen from the flower, which then turns inactive.

Your mission is to make a beeline for a flower with a matching color and dump your pollen over it. Flowers that need pollen are differentiated by the lack of detail – they're a more colorful silhouette that blooms into an intricate rendering when you pollinate them.  

Cartoon bee holding three different colors of pollen in Google Earth Day game

(Image credit: Google)

Your bee can hold up to three pollen balls at a time. If you pick up a new one when your stash is full, you'll lose the oldest of the three you're carrying around. So if you picked up a red, blue, and yellow pollen, in that order, and grab a pink, it'll replace your red pollen. 

All the while, the screen will be scrolling down, which is where the difficulty ramps up. You need to dart around collecting and distributing pollen before the flowers disappear off-screen. 

I'd recommend hovering near the lower half of the display so you can see what's coming and have time to react. However, sitting your bee too close to the bottom means you might inadvertently pick up some pollen you don't want.

The best strategy is to keep two pollen balls so you have a bit more leeway with the third. You don't necessarily want to bump the oldest for a new one, and if your bee flies too close to a pollen-pumping flower, it could pick up a ball by accident. This why you have a little more wiggle room for strategizing. 

Cartoon bee looking at camera with a bee fact above its head in Google Earth Day game

(Image credit: Google)

It's worth noting that it takes a few seconds for a flower to pollinate, so don't wave your cursor around wildly expecting every flower in your wake to be checked off. And try to deal with the flowers that are at the top of your screen first, to maximize the number you can get to in each round.

There's no apparent end game – or none that I ran into. Bee facts are presented to you at the end of each round, and given that I saw a couple more than once, I can only assume it goes on indefinitely. This way you can soak up bee tidbits all day long. 

TOPICS
Shabana Arif
News Editor, TechRadar Gaming

Shabana has been writing about games for almost a decade now, as well as covering tech, politics, food, and other random tidbits at Gizmodo UK. She's stepped outside of news every now and then to write game guides, and always appreciates a DM if she's helped get you out of a pickle. During her time freelancing, you may have spotted her words at VG24/7, GamesRadar, and IGN. She's also held the position of news editor at Gizmodo UK, T3, and The Sun Online. 

Read more
A laptop screen showing Google's Block Breaker game
Don’t play this new Block Breaker game in Google Search – I’m already hopelessly addicted to the nostalgia
Gaming with AI
I asked Gemini to play a text-based adventure game with me and the AI whisked me away to a word-based fantasy
Google app on phone
Google in 2024: the hits, the misses, plus what to expect in 2025
Google's Santa tracker home page
Santa tracker 2024 live: how to follow Santa with Google or Norad
Three phones on a green background showing Gentler Streak, Headway and The Way
9 unsung iOS and Android apps we couldn't live without in 2024
The Nintendo Switch 2 next to a Dyson Car+Boat and the Hot Tub app logo.
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from Amazon teasing Alexa upgrades to the iPhone's first official porn app
Latest in Consoles & PC
Asus ROG Ally using Steam
I think Asus could be the perfect partner for an Xbox handheld – but I have questions
Astro Bot PS5 bundle
Sony officially announces new Astro Bot PS5 bundles and they're available from PlayStation Direct right now for bargain prices we can barely believe
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
Future PlayStation games could have AI-powered characters, if this leaked prototype of Aloy is anything to go by
The artwork for The Last of Us Limited Edition DualSense controller
Where to pre-order and buy The Last of Us Limited Edition DualSense controller today - UK pre-orders are live but stock has sold out already
Playing games on the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma without an external display.
The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma offers Steam Deck owners a premium design and, of course, plenty of RGB
Image of GTA 6 protagonists and PS5
GTA 6's console-only launch reminds me of how much I despise console exclusivity - is it worth waiting years for PC ports?
Latest in How Tos
Trinity Rodman #2 of the Washington Spirit crosses the ball during a game between Bay FC and Washington Spirit at Audi Field on November 10, 2024 in Washington, DC.
National Women's Soccer League 2025: How to watch NWSL games live from anywhere
tiktok
How to edit TikTok videos
Irish boxer TJ Doheny receives an undercard bout, ahead of the WBO super welterweight world title fight in March, 2023
Ball vs Doheny live stream: how to watch the boxing action from anywhere
 Facebook social media app logo on log-in, sign-up registration page
How to delete all your Facebook posts
Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match in February 2025
Liverpool vs Newcastle live stream: how to watch Carabao Cup final 2025 online
Max Verstappen of Red Bull in testing for the 2025 season in Bahrain
Australian Grand Prix 2025: How to watch F1 race online from anywhere