Google I/O Adventure

When the advent of COVID-19 forced many conferences to cancel or go online, Google took the latter route with its annual developers' conference in 2021. Google I/O Adventure is a virtual gamified convention, where attendees register, build customized avatars, explore various worlds and meet real-life Google employees (virtually, of course).

The game is controlled via WASD; to interact with an object or person the player must simply bump into them. The screen displays an open chat for everyone in the immediate area; sitting down at a table creates a private chat room for those seated. Scattered through the worlds are booths manned by Google employees; players can also pick up virtual swag to customize their avatar with. Each booth also provided information about Google products through links and YouTube videos.

Each "product dome" in the game revolved around a particular Google product, like Android, Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Pay. There were also various experiences players could check out, including the virtual Amphitheater, the Digital Forest, and a Shared Piano; mini-games like golf and a fishing activity were also available.

Google I/O Adventure was active for the traditional three days of I/O but remained online for a month afterwards; it returned in 2022 for that year's conference as well.