The Jerry Lawson Google Doodle is an interactive game-building experience released on December 1, 2022, celebrating what would have been the 82nd birthday of Gerald “Jerry” Lawson — the “father of the video game cartridge.” This isn’t just a game you play; it’s a game that teaches you to make games, honouring the man who revolutionised how we play them.
Jerry Lawson was born in Brooklyn in 1940 and showed a gift for electronics from childhood, repairing televisions and building his own devices. After moving to California, he joined Fairchild Semiconductor and led the team that created the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The Channel F (the “F” stood for “fun”) was the first home console with interchangeable game cartridges — a revolutionary concept when games were previously hardcoded into hardware. It also introduced the eight-way digital joystick and the pause menu. Although not a commercial success, these innovations became the foundation for the Atari 2600, Super Nintendo, and every cartridge-based console that followed. Lawson was also one of the first Black engineers in the video game industry and later founded VideoSoft, one of the earliest Black-owned game development companies.
The Doodle was created in collaboration with three game designers — Davionne Gooden, Lauren Brown, and Momo Pixel — along with Lawson’s children, Anderson and Karen. It features five ready-to-play retro pixel-art games including a brick breaker, platformers, and puzzle games. But the real magic is the built-in level editor that works like a browser-based Mario Maker. You can place platforms, blocks, doors, keys, enemies, traps, and health kits to create your own arcade games from scratch.
The editor offers multiple visual themes: an 8-bit style featuring a Mario-like Jerry Lawson sprite, a nature-inspired “Butterflies” set, a cartoon “Ice Cream” candy world, and a “Spooky” Halloween tileset. Once you’ve built something, you can share it with friends via a link — just like swapping cartridges.
How To Play Jerry Lawson
The Doodle starts with a tutorial where you control a cartoon Jerry Lawson using arrow keys. Hit the flags to learn anecdotes about his life and legacy.
After the intro, tap the pencil icon to enter Edit Mode and learn how to modify games. The tutorial walks you through placing objects and testing your creations.
From the main menu, select any of the five pre-made games to play. Use arrow keys to move and spacebar to jump. Collect items, avoid enemies, and reach the goal.
Click the pencil icon while playing any game to edit it, or click the empty cartridge with the plus sign to start from scratch.
Use the share button in the top-right corner to send your creation to friends. You can also duplicate existing games to use as a starting point for new designs.