Google celebrates 15 years with birthday doodle

It's a truth universally acknowledged: the older someone gets, the harder it can be to come up with a fresh birthday idea. So it is with Google.

For its 15th birthday, the search giant has returned from the party store with a candy-filled pinata to hang on its home page. It's a celebratory flourish Google has used before -- a pinata also graced the page for the company's ninth birthday.

But this is no ordinary regifting. Where the pinata in 2007 was (apparently) static, though it cleverly incorporated the numeral 9, this year's pinata swings into action. It's a miniature video game.

Set it in motion, and the second O becomes a star-shaped pinata, while the second G dons a blindfold and wields a stick. Using your space bar or your mouse, you can spur that G to swing away at the piñata -- which picks up speed as you strike it. You'll have 10 swings to knock pieces of candy free from the battered target before the game ends -- it doesn't matter whether they're hits or misses. Try again (and again and again) if you're hopeful to set a new personal best.

This article originally appeared on CNET under the headline "Google birthday doodle strikes again."