Play the adorable 'Pony Express' game on Google today

If you visit Google on Tuesday you'll be greeted with a special treat: An adorable game based on the Pony Express, founded exactly 155 years ago, which lets you collect letters, avoid obstacles, and race on horseback from California to Missouri.

Google offered up more details in a blog post:

The notion of triumph through adversity is so inspirational. So when William H.Russell, Alexander Majors & William B Waddell founded the Pony Express on April 3rd, 1860, they set in motion a wonderful yet daunting method of communication.

To play the game, just click on the highlighted play button in the Google logo and you'll immediately get going. You'll see you have controls to move up and down to collect the letters, but if you run into any obstacles like rocks or cacti, you'll be thrown from your horse and you'll lose some of the letters you've collected. You can collect up to 100 letters in this game, but it'll take fast reflexes on your part.

Once you get past the first two checkpoints, you'll arrive at your destination and the townsfolk will cheer you on. There you'll see your final score and get a chance to top it with a replay.

"We know everyone is busy these days but the Pony Express needs YOU," Google said in its blog post. "And ultimately, whatever happens in life, what's more important than earning trust and respect from a horse?"

You can learn more details in this Google video, "Behind the Doodle," embedded below: