Google's spooky Magic Cat Academy Halloween Doodle is back with a third instalment

Key Takeaways

Google, continuing its tradition of interactive Doodles, has released a new version of the Magic Cat Academy Halloween Doodle game.
Magic Cat Academy was first released in 2016, with a subsequent version released in 2020. 2024 marks its third instalment.
The game is available on the Google Search home page on both the web and mobile platforms, and provides a quick and fun Halloween activity for users.

Google has an exciting new Doodle game up its sleeve, right in time for Halloween!

The tech giant’s playful take on holidays, historical events, and cultural milestones via its Search home screen Doodles is one we dearly cherish. The tech giant’s 25th birthday saw the arrival of an interactive “Most Searched Playground” Doodle, while a ‘Celebrating Popcorn‘ game recently made the rounds, especially because of its multiplayer nature.

Now, with Halloween just around the corner, the tech giant is again treating us with a delight by bringing back a spooky classic.

Google is getting in the mood for a spooky Halloween

Doing its part to help celebrate a socially distant holiday

Google first released its classic Magic Cat Academy Doodle for Halloween 2016, and revisited the concept with part two for Halloween 2020. The mini-game is back now for a third installment, right in time for Halloween 2024, marking a four-year release pattern.

Starting now, up until the end of day on October 31, visiting the Google Search homepage will present users with the option to join Momo the Cat on a journey through Earth’s atmosphere. The Doodle is available to play on the web and mobile, though if you’re like me and play PC games with a mouse and keyboard, you’ll fare much better on the web version — such is the nature of the game.

There’s more where that came from

The mini-game essentially puts you up against monsters in the atmosphere, including bedsheet ghosts, wicked bats, spiders that don’t want to let you through, and more. Each monster appears on the screen with a symbol over their head. These include ^ – | @, and more. Your task is to quickly draw the symbols you see over your enemies’ heads to eliminate them, or risk them hitting you and taking one of your five lives away.

That’s easier than it sounds, especially in the last stage when the speed enemies approach you at increases significantly. I lost quite a few lives trying to grab screenshots for this article while doodling enemy symbols away. Give the mini-game a try, it should take you roughly 5–6 minutes to completely finish it. If you’re bored and want to give Doodles from the past a shot, Google’s website dedicated to Doodles lets you search through its vast catalog, and you can even find interesting ones that have previously appeared on your birthday.

Elsewhere, if Magic Cat Academy didn’t quench your Halloween thirst for scary games, check out our dedicated list of the 17 best horror games on Android in 2024.