This interactive Doodle game celebrates tiny statues for their big role in German history —garden gnomes! Click the Doodle to launch gnomes!
This Doodle’s Key Themes
On this day in Germany, Garden Day celebrates garden statues for their big role in German history.
About the Doodle
Gnome figures first appeared in 13th-century Anatolia and re-emerged in 16th-century Italy. The common garden gnome originated in 19th-century Germany from the mining area of Thuringia. Here, local craftsmen are given credit for hand-crafting the gnomes as we know them—with shaggy beards and pointy hats.
Propelled by local myths and increased leisure time, the gnomes began to find homes in gardens throughout the country. Legend has it they protect these gardens and bring good luck.
In today’s interactive Doodle, you’ll learn a bit more about how the humble gnome is made. Then, you’ll enlist a group of gnomes to help you decorate a garden of your own!
Here’s how the game works: Use your trusty catapult (or trebuchet to be precise) to launch your clay gnomes into the farthest reaches of your garden. The farther your gnome travels, the more flowers you plant—and the more points you earn! Once you learn the basics, you can choose from six colorful gnomes with different shapes, weights, and bounciness. Try each one to see which gnome goes the greatest distance towards making your garden the most beautiful of all.
About the Celebrating Garden Gnomes Doodle
Look amongst the greenery of Germany’s lush gardens and you might spot a red-capped gartenzwerg, or garden gnome.
Early sketches
The Doodle Team explored many different ideas, concepts, and creative directions for celebrating the history and culture of the garden gnome. To help set context, the team designed a brief history lesson on how German garden gnomes were originally made. You can see this introductory animation above.
For the visual design of the game, lead artist Gerben Steenks found inspiration in Germany’s rich traditions in wood carving, village architecture, and folk history. He was also able to draw from a wide variety of flowers, trees, and other plant life that are unique or commonly found in German gardens.
Early sketches of various flowers and other plant life above
Early sketches of various flowers and other plant life above
Gerben also spent considerable time exploring different designs for the gnome statues featured in the game, including a variety of different hairstyles, mustaches, beards, and clothing.
Once your gnome lands to rest in your garden, we wanted to give players a fun, visual reward to highlight the humor found in many traditional gnome statues. Gerben explored different ideas to have each gnome transform into a unique and funny pose.
More polished final poses. FUN FACT: At one point, there was an idea for a gnome hot tub pose!
GIFS of in-game physics
Butterflies can take you higher.
Mushroom bounce!
Learning to go the distance.
Cloud skimming
The Garden Gnomes Team
Lead artist: Gerben Steenks
Engineering: Brian Murray, Jordan Thompson
UX: Diana Tran
Program management: My-Linh Le
Project lead: Brian Kaas
Marketing: Perla Campos, Marlene Meissner, Carlos Diaz
Doodle team lead: Jessica Yu
Cultural research & writing support: Tom Zeller
Sound: Silas Hite
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