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In December, it will be his 250th birthday! Thank you for reading these facts about Beethoven!

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Ludwig van Beethoven was so famous that Google even created a doodle for him!

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Even when you're the preeminent musical genius of your generation, sometimes you just step in it. So begins Beethoven's trip to the symphony hall in today's musical puzzle, which Leon Hong created in collaboration with artist Nate Swinehart and engineers Jonathan Shneier and Jordan Thompson. It happens that our story isn't much of a stretch in the broader context of Ludwig van Beethoven's life, which saw more than its share of rotten luck.

Ludwig's father, a middling singer in the Elector's court and a man too often in his cups, pulled the precocious child out of school at the age of ten in hopes of earning some money on the shoulders of his talent (as a result, his handwriting was so bad that musicologists still struggle to authenticate his signature). He lost two siblings prematurely, had to assume full responsibility for his family as a teenager, fell madly for unrequiting lovers twice, and, most famously, began losing his hearing at the peak of his career.

Despite all of this, Beethoven's music prevailed. As Mozart reputedly said, "one day, [that boy] will give the world something to talk about." That he certainly did. Sure, he may have raised his voice a few times, but he could overwhelm his friends with excessive kindness and generosity just the same. And while his romances brought him more anguish than happiness, would we have Für Elise or Moonlight Sonata if they hadn't?

It's unclear when Beethoven was actually born, but December 17th marks the 245th anniversary of his baptism. Today provided us a rare opportunity to construct a game in step with beautiful music, whose evocative moods, drama, lightness, and depth made conjuring visuals to match it rollickingly fun. Here's to one of history's greatest artists, and to hoping that, wherever you happen to be traveling this holiday, your life's work isn't eaten by a horse.

Engineers: Jordan Thompson, Jonathan Shneier, Kris Hom, Charlie Gordon

Design Lead: Leon Hong

Animatics/Additional Art: Nate Swinehart

Piano Recordings: Tim Shneier

Production: Gregory Capuano

Mulling over ideas for puzzle structure

The evening's first misstep

Moonlight Sonata before a dip in the Rhine

At last, the crescendo

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Celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven's 245th Year Doodle - Google Doodles

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Learn more about the creation of Celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven's 245th Year Doodle and discover the story behind the unique artwork.

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Scientists recon that Beethoven had a heart condition too. "When your heart beats irregularly, it does so in predictable patterns. we can hear those patterns in his music," says Howell in the Huffington Post.

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Beethoven had a bad wellbeing. He was an alcoholic, he had lost something he had loved (sound), he lost the love of his love and even had a bad temper.

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Fur Elise (or Fur Therese) was a song written to Beethoven's love (Therese) but the name was lost because of his handwriting. Sadly, Therese never wanted to marry him.

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This is a widely known part of one of his symphonies. Others include Fur Elise...

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Finally, after his hard and long life, Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria.

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10 years after his last, he played his final symphony for the first time ever. It is now recognised as the best out of the 9.

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The 8th symphony was premiered only 2 months after the 7th! This was performed at the same place as the last and was being appreciated too.

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Beethoven was using all kind of devices and ways to hear again. He even put his head on the piano to feel vibrations!

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He played his 5th, 6th and 7th all in December (different years) and around his 7th, he had gone completely deaf. He couldn't hear anything! Then how did he carry on to write his most famous symphonies?

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His fourth symphony was premiered in Vienna but a different theatre than the last 3.

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Same place as the last two - his third symphony was performed here. There seems to be a pattern.

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Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55) Eroica Berliner Philharmoniker

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This was the date that his second symphony was played in Vienna again. His hearing was steadily going too...

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Beethoven - Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

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Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36 London Classical Players, conducted by Roger Norrington. I. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio II. Larghetto III. Scherzo (Allegro) IV. Allegro molto

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Ludwig's first symphony was performed here in Vienna at the age of 30. Symphonies are huge pieces of music

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At the age of 28, Beethoven started to realise that something was wrong with his hearing. At first, it wasn't much but would later cause great harm to his wellbeing.

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This was the year the Ludwig van Beethoven started composing and probably gained his love for music.

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Beethoven was pulled out of school at the age of ten by his father. His writing was so bad, scientists can barely read his signature. He was slowly asked to do more and more around and for the house until he become fully responsible for everyone's wellbeing, as a teenager.

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As a child, Beethoven was beaten by his dad to learn and play the piano to be like Mozart. Ludwig was frequently woken up in the middle of the night by his (probably) drunk father to play the piano at parties.

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Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany (We are not sure when he was born though!) He was the third Ludwig van Beethoven in his family too!