Google Zerg Rush is a classic Easter egg that turns your search results into a frantic clicking game. When activated, waves of small “O” characters swarm down the screen and start eating your search results. Your job is to click them before they destroy everything. It’s fast, chaotic, and surprisingly addictive.
The game was released by Google in April 2012 as a tribute to StarCraft, the iconic real-time strategy game by Blizzard Entertainment. In StarCraft, a “Zerg rush” is a tactic where players overwhelm their opponent early in the game by flooding them with cheap, fast units. Google’s version captures that same feeling of being swarmed from all directions.
The “O” characters come from the Google logo and act as the Zerglings attacking your page. They bounce and rotate as they move toward your search results, nibbling away at everything in their path. Each one takes multiple clicks to destroy, so you need to be quick and accurate. Miss too many and they’ll wipe out the entire page.
Once the game ends, the surviving “O”s group together to form a giant “GG” on your screen — a nod to the “good game” phrase used by StarCraft players and gamers in general. You also get a final score based on how many Zerglings you destroyed and your APM (actions per minute).
The original Easter egg is no longer live on Google Search, but you can still play recreated versions on sites like elgooG that keep the experience alive.
How To Play Google Zerg Rush
As soon as the “O” characters start dropping, click on them to destroy them. Each one needs several clicks to take down, so focus on the ones closest to your search results first. They attack from the top and can sneak up from the bottom too, so keep your eyes on the whole screen.
The game tracks your APM (actions per minute) and how many Zerglings you’ve destroyed. Try to click as fast as possible while staying accurate. It’s easy to panic and miss clicks when the swarm gets thick.
There’s no real way to win — eventually the Zerglings will overwhelm you. The goal is to survive as long as possible and rack up the highest score you can. When the game ends, you’ll see the “GG” message and your final stats.
Google Zerg Rush is a perfect example of how a simple idea can turn into something memorable. It’s quick, fun, and a nice throwback to one of gaming’s most famous strategies.