Celebrating Popcorn is an interactive Google Doodle game that launched on September 25, 2024. The doodle is a battle royale game where players compete around the world with the goal of not being popped and standing as the last one alive.
Overview
Gameplay
The game is played like a typical battle royal, where up to 61 real-world players compete in rounds, and where the last player unpopped wins. Each player has two hearts, which most attacks dealing one heart of damage (a few attack can instantly drain a player's health). Should the player run out of hearts, they will "pop" - similar to how kernels turns into popcorn - and lose the game.
Up to four rounds are played within a single match, all featuring a boss that is an ingredient that is used to make popcorn. The bosses include Butter, Salt, , Fire, and Microwave. Each boss features their own attacks over the span of (usually) four phases. After the fourth phase, the boss is usually defeated, and all surviving players move on.
The game features two modes depending on how many players want to play at the same time. The first is Solo, where a player plays by themselves, and the second is Squad, where up to three players can play simultaneously as a team. The rules slightly change depending on the mode played; in Solo, only one player can be determined the winner, whereas in Squad, multiple players can win so long as the only survivors are on the same team. Additionally, players in squads, do not immediately pop when losing their hearts, and instead they can still crawl around at a slow rate, allowing any teammates who are nearby to revive them should they stay close for a certain period of time. However, the player will pop should they fail to be revived or if their other teammates have popped as well.
In addition to the Shield playable character that is introduced in the tutorial who can temporarily deflect attacks, the game allows for the selection of kernels who can Heal themselves with projectiles, and kernels who can Catch nearby projectiles and Throw them at other players. All three abilities have different properties that offer different strengths and weakness.
Controls
| Input | Heal | Shield | Catch and Throw |
|---|---|---|---|
| W/A/S/D | Move | ||
| Space | Heal | Shield | Catch |
| Space (whilst holding a projectile) | N/A | N/A | Throw |
| Stand next to fallen teammate (squad only) | Revive teammate | ||
| Input | Heal | Shield | Catch and Throw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joystick | Move | ||
| Ability button | Heal | Shield | Catch |
| Ability button (whilst holding a projectile) | N/A | N/A | Throw |
| Stand next to fallen teammate (squad only) | Revive teammate | ||
Characters
Playable
Ability: Can heal half a heart by consuming nearby projectiles.
Pros:
- Heal ability can be used to make a quick recovery if the player takes damage.
- Fast recharge time.
- Good range.
Cons:
- Cannot move while using the ability, rendering the player vulnerable to enemy and deflected attacks.
- Heal is the only ability in the game which does not deflect bullets.
- Only works on startup, make the move hard to land, and sometimes results in both the player healing and taking damage.
- Heal is ineffective against non-projectile attacks.
Ability: Can conjure shield that grants invulnerability. It can also reflect projectiles that come into contact with the move as it is starting up.
Pros:
- Shielding is a great defensive tool as it resists almost every attack in the game.
- Shield's reflective property at the start of the move allows for niche aggressive play. Deflected projectiles also move faster and (possibly) do not affect the user.
- Long range.
- Can provide protection against/reflect multiple projectiles.
- Can move while using the ability.
Cons:
- Long recharge time.
Ability: Can catch nearby projectiles and then throw them, which is able to hit and pop other players. Use an aggressive playstyle with this character.
Pros:
- Throwing projectiles gives the character for an aggressive playstyle, allowing for the ability to be used to hinder the other players.
- Thrown projectiles move faster and do not hurt the user.
- Can move while using the ability.
- Decent range
Cons
- ONLY decent range
- Grabbing is not as good of a defensive tool due to its shorter range and nothing to benefit the player's survivability besides stopping projectiles.
- Somewhat long recharge time.
- Grabbing does not defend against non-projectile attacks.
- Only works on startup, make the move hard to land, and commonly results in both the player grabbing something and taking damage.
Bosses
Appearance
Butter appears to be a slab of partly melted golden-yellow butter. Their expression has dark-yellow angry eyebrows, but also an open smile, resembling the emoticon >:D. Its melted lower part passively jiggles, as if sizzling in the heat of the pan that is the arena. Its icon on the list is distinctly different from its presence in-game, showing it unmelted and sitting on a plate.
Attacks
Phase 1
- Shoots yellow balls of butter that are slow, blockable, healable, and throwable. Shoots them in packs of 8 in a diamond pattern, 8 in a circle-like pattern, or 2 sets of 4 each, spaced alternately out like 8.
Phase 2
- Shoots 12 butter projectiles in a volley, 3 packs of 4 each, placed in a 4-arm spiral-like pattern. They are identical to the ones in Phase 1.
Phase 3
- Slides around the arena, bouncing off its edges, and dealing damage on collision with a suspiciously large hitbox, and may return to the center.
Phase 4 (Self-Destruct)
- Margarin melts into the ground with a tearful expression, releasing a large 2-armed spiral of projectiles as it does, which may change directions while firing, and another ring of projectiles upon fully disintegrating. After this attack concludes, the boss battle is over, and the surviving players move on to Salt.
Strategies
- Staying at the edge of the pan is the safest position, particularly during its final attack.
- It is easiest for Heal and Catch & Throw players to get projectiles here, since they are quite slow and not many. However, it is also because of this that damage is not very common, so Heal may not see as much use anyway.
- Not many people will die here due to the simplicity and slow attacks.
Appearance:
Salt appears to be a standard saltshaker with a monobrow that loops upward in the center. The metal part has 7 holes for the salt to come out, and their mouth has 1 extra layer of color. In the menu image, Salt is shown to have one tooth.
Attacks:
Phase 1
- Spits salt grains outwards, in a square or diamond pattern. These are the only projectiles in the main battle that all 3 characters' abilities can affect; its attack in phase 4 uses similar ones.
Phase 2
- Charges up and gleefully launches a rain of salt from its shaker. 3 salt projectiles are launched at each player, targeting their position and landing there momentarily.
Phase 3
- Jumps into the air, out of the arena, and calls several waves of raining salt to sweep across the entire space. There is time in between each wave, in which players have to go to the location where a wave has already passed.
Phase 4 (Self-Destruct)
- Cracks and breaks apart, releasing many partial waves of salt projectiles, similar to Phase 1. After this attack concludes, the battle ends, and surviving players move on to Fire.
Strategies
- It is recommended to keep Salt in your view, so you can tell what attack it will use next.
- Try to always keep on the move, especially if you are somewhere you can't see Salt.
- The more numerous amounts of projectiles makes Heal effective here, but it may find the more dangerous attacks unusable.
- The Salt rain and lines are what kill the most player here, usually resulting in either around 3 players or game over at this stage.
- Keep in mind that Salt's projectiles have splash damage, especially with the salt rain lines or salt grains. They have a splash radius of about 1.5x their size, and with the same damage amount. (Confirmation Needed)
- A player using Shield is able to stand directly in front of Salt, and with proper timing, completely destroy the projectiles of its phase 1 attack while remaining unharmed.
Appearance:
Fire appears as well... Fire. Their upper portion is a red orange that sways left and right, while their bottom third is an orangish gold. When attacking, their eyes momentarily shut and their mouth opens to a grin.
Attacks:
Phase 1
- Creates a line of fire projectiles to its right. Some pattern will orbit clockwise at an even pace around Fire, the others counterclockwise. While technically interactable by Heal or Catch & Throw, this is made difficult by their speed. A strategy for that is that the projectiles are slowest near the center, the rest near the edges, being the fastest.
Phase 2
- Releases 3 projectiles that orbit itself, while gradually moving farther away and faster around. While technically interactable by Heal or Catch & Throw, this is made difficult by their speed, and an unusual hitbox.
Phase 3
- Releases miniature flames at various points in the arena, which move around slowly.
Phase 4
- Creates 2 sets of short-lived flame rings, which together span the whole arena, but have a brief time between them. To avoid this, players must go where the first set of rings hit, as the second cannot hit there.
Phase 5 (Self-Destruct)
- Creates four destructive fire beams along the cardinal directions. The beams will revolve within the arena after a short time, for a total of 360 degrees. This attack also instantly destroys players and the popped kernels they would leave behind. After this, Fire itself shrinks for a brief time, then goes out, the battle ends, and surviving players move on to the Microwave.
Strategy:
- It is recommended to be underneath and slightly to the right of Fire, so you can see which parts of the phase 1 attack will go which direction.
- The Fire blender attack can be deadly if you don't time your move-in correctly.
- The game will usually end here since there's usually around 3 players left after Salt.
- A strategy for Phase 1 is that the projectiles are slowest near the center, the rest near the edges ,being the fastest.
Attacks:
Phase 1
- Shoots several dense rings of electric projectiles, with small gaps in part of them.
Phase 2
- Takes External energy and turns it into projectiles that players have to weave through.
Phase 3
- Fires 4 beams of electricity, which rotate 180° before expiring. Shield can resist its damage when passing through it.
Phase 4
- Disappears, as most of the arena glows red. After a brief time, the glowing area will be engulfed in electricity.
Phase 5 (Self-Destruct)
- Splits apart into two smaller orbs of electricity, which then split again into 4 yet smaller ones, which split into projectile-sized orbs. These orbs can continue splitting into more of themselves, and will do so indefinitely until all but one player is defeated and the game ends.
Strategies
- During the phase 2 attack, staying relatively close to the center is advisable, as the beams have less relative speed there.
- Heal is capable of consuming the smallest projectiles of phase 5, and as such a sufficient number of heal players in coordination would theoretically be able to destroy all of them before they can multiply out of control. However, this would mean the game cannot end, and would stay there indefinitely. Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjdXHlXUv78
Gallery
Trivia
- Popcorn was present in many other doodles, including: 79th Anniversary of the First Drive-in Movie, New Year's Eve 2018 and New Year's Day 2019, Fourth of July 2019,
- Catch & Throw is the only playable character to have two abilities.