5 Methods for Mastering Google’s Garden Gnome Game

Google Doodles may only stay on the Google homepage for a day or two, but the latest Doodle is one you might want to keep checking out long after it’s dropped off of its prime spot. Its featured Google Doodle Garden Gnomes game is really addictive, and your productivity at the beginning of the work week could be seriously endangered if you try to master it — but it would be totally worth it to be able to say you did.

In celebration of Garden Day in Germany, Google set up Monday’s Google Doodle to bring attention to the quirky little figurines and the myths that surround them. And what better way than with an addictive, interactive game?

The object of the game is to use your “trusty” catapult (or rather, a trebuchet) to launch clay gnomes as far as you can get them in a garden. “The farther your gnome travels,” Google reported, “the more flowers you plant — and the more points you earn!” Sounds easy, right? Well, there are a couple of tricks to rack up as many of those points as possible.

Get Your Timing Right

When you start the game, you’ll press the spacebar on your keyboard to get the catapult moving, then press it again launch to your gnome. You’ve got to be sure you don’t press it too quickly, or you’ll drop your gnome too early and it will fall either behind the catapult or right in front of it.

To launch your gnome as far as you can, press the spacebar right after the apex of the curve (you’ll get a good sense of this the more you play), and you’ll have the right combo of speed and height to send it sailing far across the garden.

Strategic Bouncing

You can also make your gnome bounce off the ground by hitting the space bar again, which will send your gnome down towards it. If your gnome hits certain objects like logs and mushrooms, it will travel even farther when it bounces.

Choose Your Gnome Wisely

Eventually, you’ll be given the option of playing around with different gnomes. I was only given one to play with initially, but was soon given the option of several more to try out. Play around with different shapes and weights to make your gnome travel further — personally, I liked the big guy on the end.

Extra Bounce

CNET reports that in order to get even more bounce and distance in the Google Doodle gnome game, you should tap the down-arrow button in the lower right corner of the game screen before your gnome touches the ground. Try out that strategy for a little extra luck.

Practice Makes Perfect

It’s true — the more you practice launching those little gnomes, the better you’ll get at it. You’ll have a better sense of when to throw them, when to hit your space bar, and where to land to get the best air on your bounce. Just keep at it, and you’ll be a master at the Google Doodle gnomes game in no time.