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Every year, Google teases the biggest event in Android with a puzzle — when (or if) the community solves it, the date for that year’s Google I/O conference will be revealed, giving us a precise time to expect the developer-summit-turned-media-extravaganza in Mountain View. Like speculation aroundAndroid’s next desert codenameor itshidden Easter eggand mascot, it’s a fun tradition with low stakes that we can’t help but take way too seriously. And thanks to some skilled individuals, you don’t need to solve the puzzle yourself to figure out I/O 2024 is set for May 14th.
Look back on last year’s puzzle and I/O date reveal
Could past puzzles hold any clues for I/O 2024?
We haven’t made a ton of progress yet, but Google has set itsI/O 2024 puzzle pagelive and is urging us to “Twist, turn, and teleport” our way to an answer. The puzzle itself looks like a colorful line art version of Monument Valley, with platforms you can turn, shuffle, or slide to redirect a globe around an MC Escher-style obstacle course.
Google never makes these things easy, but that’s the fun part
In total, there are 15 mini-puzzles that need to be solved in a linear progression, meaning you have to figure out the first one before you may unlock the second, and so on. The first puzzle is easy enough, consisting of a few squares with bends that you need to place in the right spots to connect the start and finish lines. But the second puzzle introduces a new mechanic with circular pieces that can be clicked or tapped to change the direction of the bend — which sounds like it might make things easier, but with the extra wrinkle of omnidirectional curves, the possibilities for placement grow exponentially.
By the third puzzle, a new dead-end tile is introduced that will bounce the ball back to its previous path. So far, we’ve only made it to the seventh puzzle, and the new mechanics just keep piling up. There’s a “T” piece, a four-way intersection, one that functions like a fork in the road, another with a hairpin turn, and even tiles with stars that you need to collect. As these pieces get added, the number of squares available to place them on the grid seem to shrink, as Google introduces no-go zones represented by grayed-out squares at some point along the way.
We’re still trying to get past level seven, but let’s be honest — nobody here at AP is solving this thing, so we’ll keep an ear to the ground and update this page when one of the true puzzle-solving geniuses out there finally cracks it.
UPDATE: 2025-06-02 16:10 EST BY WILL SATTELBERG
Puzzle solved, date revealed
Did you figure out this year’s puzzle? Yeah, frankly, we didn’t either. Thankfully, those smarter than us were on it, and just a few hours after this year’s set of brain teasers went live, we found out the date: May 14th, 2024. That’s exactly two months from today, so start shopping for that airfare. Now, if you excuse me, I have to reschedule a dentist appointment made for that very day — and no, that’s not a joke.
