Google doodles are variations of Google's logo that commemorate famous people or events such as the Veteran's Day, Dostoevsky's birthday, etc. On November 23rd in 17 European countries the Google logo was replaced by a doodle commemorating the publication of Stanislaw Lem’s first book.
All the credit, glory and fame for the most elaborate Google doodle ever goes to Mr. Marcin Wichary, Ms. Sophia Foster-Dimino, their Team and, of course, to the late Daniel Mroz, the author of terrific illustrations for "The Cyberiad".
The Google Doodle Game:
The Lem doodle is a well thought out project that extracts the very essence of “The Cyberiad” - a book witty on the surface and philosophical beneath - and captures its spirit.
First you get acquainted with Trurl, a robot with surprisingly human characteristics who looks a bit like Lem himself.
Trurl seems to have an idea for a machine that requires three parts from his other, already finished creations. Missing parts are collected during the game by a small robotic bird.
Step 1: "Trurl’s Machine"
“Trurl’s Machine” is famous for its conviction that 2 + 2 = 7. It is also very stubborn. You have to help the machine with addition.
Step 2: Pirate Pugg
("The Sixth Sally, or How Trurl and Klapaucius Created a Demon of the Second Kind to Defeat the Pirate Pugg")
Pugg, a cosmic pirate of information with a PhD., demands from Trurl any information as long as it is true. A daemon filters information from random motion of air molecules. This "information wave" is then written down on a very long sheet of paper.
So long in fact, that the Pugg becomes entangled in it. Your task is to help adjust the shape, amplitude and phase of the wave.
Step 3: The Cannonade of Babies
("The Forth Sally, or How Trurl Build a Femfatalatron to Save Prince Pantagoon from the Pangs of Love, and How Later He Resorted to a Cannonade of Babies")
Trurl encounters a planet with two kingdoms at war.
In order to end the conflict by peaceful means Trurl intends to bombard one of the countries with baby-robots (which is your task). Faced with a prospect of the collapse of his country’s economy the militant king asks for peace (it takes three robot-babies to finish this part of the game).
Notice that the planet with two fighting kingdoms is orbited by a boxy shape bearing remarkable resemblance to the first Polish satellite "Lem".
Step 4: ("How the World Was Saved")
Eventually the three elements for “the machine that could do anything in n” are collected.
Trurl meets Klapaucius, your last task is to press the button.
Trurl proudly demonstrates his machine to Klapaucius; the machine makes anything in n: noodles, needles, noses (different things in different languages).
Klapaucius demands “Nothing” and the machine, indeed, does Nothing: objects start to disappear and eventually nothing is left, not even the machine!