Pangolin Love is a four-level platform game released by Google for Valentine’s Day 2017, running from February 11th through the 14th. You play as a lovestruck pangolin who receives a letter from their sweetheart asking to meet — but realises they can’t arrive empty-clawed. What follows is an adorable globe-trotting adventure to learn the art of romance, all while raising awareness about the world’s most trafficked mammal.
The game took roughly a year to develop with a six-person team of animators and engineers. It’s designed like classic Sonic the Hedgehog — your pangolin rolls into a ball and speeds through colourful side-scrolling levels, collecting items along the way. But there’s a deeper purpose here. Pangolins are scaly mammals native to Africa and Asia, and all eight species are endangered. More than one million have been illegally taken from the wild for their meat and scales. Google partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to spread awareness, with links to donate and adopt pangolins built right into the game.
Each level is set in a different country where a specific type of pangolin lives, and each teaches our hero something new about love. In Ghana, you meet the giant pangolin and collect cocoa beans to bake a chocolate cake. India introduces the Indian pangolin in an underwater level where you gather music notes to learn a love song. China features Chinese pangolins performing a beautiful dance — you swing from lanterns collecting ribbons to learn the moves. Finally, the Philippines has you gathering flowers through a level that combines swimming, jumping, and swinging from previous stages.
The ending is genuinely sweet. After all that effort, the pangolin trips and drops everything. But their sweetheart doesn’t care about the gifts — they just wanted to be together. The two roll off into the sunset, proving that love isn’t about the perfect bouquet, dessert, song, or dance.
How To Play Pangolin Love
Use left and right arrow keys to move your pangolin. Press spacebar to jump. Your pangolin automatically rolls into a ball when moving.
Collect 150 items within 3 minutes on the first three levels. The final Philippines level requires 300 items in 4 minutes.
Use turtle shells as trampolines for extra bounce. In underwater sections, keep tapping spacebar to swim upward.
In China, jump toward lanterns and press spacebar to grab on, then press again to swing and release for momentum.
You can’t die — hitting traps just pushes you back. Use the arrow keys to backtrack if you miss collectibles.