Skip to main content

Where’s Waldo? He’s hiding out in Google Maps for the next few days

Google Maps Where's Waldo Game April Fools
Albert Khoury/Digital Trends

In celebration of April Fools, Google has brought Waldo and his iconic, red-and-white sweater to Google Maps on iOS, Android, and desktop browsers.

Starting today, whenever you open Google Maps on any of the above platforms, you’ll find Waldo waving at you. Waldo will share his location with you too, so you can search for him in various locales using Google Maps. You can start your hunt by asking Google Assistant, “Hey Google, Where’s Waldo?”

The game itself is basically a digital version of the classic children’s books. Players can use Google Maps to search for Waldo in various locations across the world. Players will need to make use of the various viewing features within Google Maps to find where Waldo is hiding among well-known spots.

Google fans know that this is far from the first time the search giant has created something like this. The company is well known for inserting little games and Easter eggs into its services (here are our favorites). Some of the more well-known ones include Chrome’s dinosaur-run game to help you kill time when your internet is down, or a missile command game embedded within YouTube. The iconic video game character Pac-Man, as well as his better half Ms. Pac-Man, have also appeared in Google Maps around this time over the past couple of years.

Those who are still upset over never receiving their owl to Hogwarts can even get a small taste of what it is like to be a wizard by way of Google Assistant. If you’re on an Android phone, simply tell Google Assistant “Lumos” and watch as the phone’s flashlight turns on. To turn it off again, simply say “nox.” Those who want some peace and quiet can even silence their phones via the command “Silencio.” Sure, it’s not quite as good as attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it’s still pretty fun.

While the Hogwarts spells appear to be a permanent addition to Google Assistant, Waldo will not be hanging around for very long. As part of a celebration for April Fools, Waldo will only be here for a few days. Waldo and friends will be hiding in Google Maps from March 31 to April 4. After that, you’ll have to go back to looking for him the old-fashioned way.

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: news, rumored price, release date, and more
Official render of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Though Samsung is the brand that is best known for foldables in the U.S., that’s changed in recent years, with Google and other brands joining the fray. The Google Pixel Fold was Google’s first foldable, and it had a relatively strong start.

We're expecting a sequel to the first Pixel Fold with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which we originally thought was going to be called the Pixel Fold 2. Here are all the details we know so far about Google's next foldable.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: release date

Read more
Samsung is starting to lose the foldable race
The cover screen on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Hot on the heels of its Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung has launched its next generation of foldables with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. These new foldables are packed with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and plenty of RAM, they have powerful camera systems, and they come in a variety of colors.

But in its sixth year of leading the foldable market, Samsung seems to be losing some momentum. After all, the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 have pretty minimal differences from their predecessors, especially in the case of the Flip.

Read more
A new kind of folding phone may take on the iPhone 16 this year
The Huawei Mate Xs being unfolded.

TCL's concept trifold smartphone Corey Gaskin / Digital Trends

Huawei is reportedly preparing to show off a new foldable smartphone that will put the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Google Pixel Fold to shame. How so? Because it has two hinges and perhaps even three screens. It’s being referred to as a trifold device and will apparently fold and unfold in a Z or N shape, making at least three screen orientations possible in a single device.

Read more