The Best Gaming “Easter Eggs” and Secrets

Video games are full of surprises. Developers often hide special features, levels, characters, and inside jokes in their games as “Easter eggs” for players to discover. These gaming Easter eggs and secrets reward exploration and curiosity. Uncovering them brings excitement and deepens our appreciation for the incredible creativity that goes into making video games.

This article will highlight some of the best and most iconic gaming Easter eggs and secrets. From classics that blew players’ minds decades ago to recent examples that show this tradition is still going strong, we’ll explore gaming’s rich hidden history.

Key Takeaways

• Gaming Easter eggs and secrets reward players’ curiosity and make games fun. They’ve been included in video games for over 30 years.
• Classic Easter eggs like Adventure’s hidden message, Pac-Man’s split-screen level, and Mortal Kombat’s ERMACS hint sparked player obsession in the 80s and 90s.
• Modern games continue having amazing Easter eggs like GTA V’s playable Bigfoot and RDR2’s time-traveler, showing creativity is still thriving.
• Indie gems like Undertale, Stardew Valley, and Shovel Knight contain Easter eggs, nodding to other indie classics.
• Massively multiplayer games like WoW’s Emerald Whelpling Pet and the Overwatch Cowboy Dance Party also have secrets.
• Even mobile games get Easter eggs, with Pokemon Go adding mythic characters and Where’s Waldo hiding in Alto’s Odyssey.

Classic Gaming Easter Eggs and Secrets

Gaming Easter eggs originated over 30 years ago. Before achievements or trophies gave players official rewards for exploring game worlds, crafty developers hid secret features for their fans to uncover.

Early Easter eggs were simple by today’s standards – secret developer credit screens, hidden rooms with messages, etc. But they delighted players and spread mainly through word of mouth. Gaming magazines eventually started reporting on Easter eggs, turning them into exciting secrets that attracted more players.

Some early examples that show the creativity behind classic Easter eggs include:

• Adventure (1979) – This text-based adventure game for the Atari 2600 by Warren Robinett had a secret room with the hidden message “Created by Warren Robinett”. This simple Easter egg is considered one of the earliest and helped popularize hiding secrets in games.
• Pac-Man (1980) – Eating enough pellets to reach the 256th level in this iconic arcade game causes the right side of the screen to become glitched and unplayable. It’s due to the game’s memory overflowing and shows an unintended consequence of early programming limitations.
• Mortal Kombat (1992) – A secret menu for this gory fighting game referenced an unlockable character called ERMACS. Misspelled from “ERMAC” (short for Error Macro), it hinted at a hidden fighter players could access with a secret code. People went crazy trying to find the non-existent character!

These early Easter eggs planted the seeds for even more devious and impressive secrets that would come later.

Modern Gaming Easter Eggs and Secrets

As games became more complex and graphically advanced into the 2000s and beyond, Easter eggs followed suit. Modern developers have found creative ways to hide intricate Easter eggs and obscure secrets for dedicated players to uncover.

With the rise of internet message boards and wikis documenting gaming secrets, Easter egg hunting has evolved into a communal experience. Players share discoveries online, fueling an obsessive subculture around exploring every nook and cranny of the virtual worlds we love to escape into.

Here are some mind-blowing Easter eggs from modern games:

• Grand Theft Auto V (2013) – The hills in the wilderness have more than deer and coyotes lurking. Players exploring off the beaten path may encounter Bigfoot himself! The mythical beast can be killed and skinned, too.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)- Off a tiny remote island, observant players discovered a crashed flying machine with an occupant dressed in antique pilot gear. Was your Wild West adventure intruded upon by a time traveler? Further investigation reveals a note about attempts to “escape this primitive era’s limitations”.
• Destiny (2014) – Within the intricate Vault of Glass raid, killing certain enemies in unexpected ways during a specific mission opens up a mysterious portal. Going through leads guardians to a bonus chest room with rare loot!

It’s incredible that even in the age of achievements explicitly rewarding discovery, games hide deeper Easter eggs for things only the most inquisitive players would think to try. They remain captivating secrets that encourage gamers to explore places they love exhaustively.

Easter Eggs and Secrets in Indie Games

Easter eggs in mainstream AAA games grab lots of attention. But the indie gaming scene has hatched plenty of delightful secrets for fans to find!

Independent developers making more personal passion projects outside big publishers often add nods and references to other indie titles they admire. Discovering these Easter eggs almost feels like stumbling upon the cool “inside jokes” of close-knit gaming circles.

Here are some top Easter eggs hidden in popular indie games:

• Undertale (2015) – This smash-hit indie puzzle/RPG hybrid about not killing anything is full of meta gags. Fun secrets like a “dog shrine” that grows the more you interact with dogs or even confronting the game’s “Annoying Dog” as a secret boss all show the quirky personality Toby Fox infused throughout his creation.
• Stardew Valley (2016) – NPC character Shane subtly nods to another farming sim/RPG hybrid in his revival scene. A character portrait change references the hero of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town being nursed by his waifu after alcohol poisoning, poking fun at some fans’ favorite unconventional “romance”.
• Shovel Knight (2014) – This phenomenal neo-retro platformer inspired by NES classics has cheat codes to unlock a multiplayer battle mode. But amusingly, the developers of Yacht Club Games struggled super hard just making the game single-player. So if you challenge the mode’s titular Knight to a duel, he refuses to fight out of fear he’ll glitch the game!

Easter eggs like these reward players for recognizing references to gaming’s past and show the continuity of creativity connecting different indie developers over decades of shared inspiration.

Easter Eggs and Secrets in Multiplayer Games

The worlds of massive multiplayer online games have grown into sprawling social cyberspaces where players converge by the millions. So it’s no wonder big MMO developers have also gotten into the Easter egg game!

With entire fictional worlds and histories to work with, they craft secrets that fit seamlessly into multiplayer environments. And when one player uncovers something shocking, the whole community usually ignites to piece together mysteries.

Here are examples of Easter eggs and secrets hidden in popular multiplayer games:

• World of Warcraft (2004) – Deep inside the raids of Blackwing Lair, there is a rare chance for a special item to appear after defeating a boss. Using this Essence of Eranikus out in the world transforms your character into a mystical green dragon whelping. Every WoW veteran secretly hopes to obtain their super rare Emerald Whelpling minion!
• Overwatch (2016) – The hybrid FPS/MOBA team shooter snuck a few fun secrets into special Christmas holiday events. Entering a cheat code combination using spray tags in the castle courtyard unlocks a surprise dance party complete with cowboy and Santa skins cutting a rug together!
• Fortnite (2017) – Part of the appeal of Epic Games’ cartoony last-man-standing shooter is seeing the strange and wacky new skins for characters they introduce each season, but hunting around the in-game world yields unlockable Easter egg skins too, like the frozen Fishstick or paying homage to master ninja Ryu. The surprises keep dedicated players on the lookout.

Game developers have as much fun hiding Easter egg secrets in multiplayer worlds as players do organizing to decipher and unlock them in groups. These gaming secrets become folklore – the stuff of legend passed between factions of players.

Easter Eggs and Secrets in Mobile Games

The world of mobile gaming has also embraced Easter eggs in unique ways. Whether nodding to established franchises or simply adding a flair that fits handheld play, mobile game developers have followed the example of their console and PC predecessors.

Mobile Easter eggs also highlight the platform’s broad accessibility. More types of games than ever before are now infused with hidden surprises spanning different genres, from old classics to indie darlings. Casual gamers join hardcore veterans in uncovering these mobile gaming secrets.

Here are delightful Easter eggs hatched in popular mobile titles:

• Pokemon Go (2016) – Niantic’s world-melting augmented reality spin on the iconic monster collector makes catching mythical rare creatures a special event. Temporary bonuses giving sharp fans chances at nabbing unregistered shadow Mewtwo or event-exclusive Genesect drive global frenzies when unlocked.
• Alto’s Odyssey (2018) – This gorgeous sandboarding endless runner game has a beautiful hidden guest character. Occasionally, while performing 360-degree flips, players can briefly spot beloved children’s book character Waldo from Where’s Waldo fame and riding his own sandboard!
• Pac-Man (2020) – Yes, the arcade classic even has a great modern mobile port full of Easter eggs! Beyond a faithful reproduction, Bandai-Namco hid a retro-stylized version of Pac-Man’s creator, Toru Iwatani, who sometimes randomly appears instead of his iconic dot-gobbler.

The thrill of uncovering gaming Easter eggs and secrets now fits players’ pockets alongside all their other mobile apps. Wherever video games spread next as technology evolves, hidden surprises will surely follow!

Final Thoughts

Like hiding painted eggs outdoors during springtime, crafty game developers continue sprinkling wonderful virtual surprises through the gaming worlds we love to explore.

Technology expands gaming possibilities from arcade cabinets to home consoles, computers, mobile phones, Easter eggs, and secrets tag along – reminding us of the clever people whose creativity makes software magic. Chasing rumors of hidden content with friends, new and old, leads us to amazing discoveries – deepening affection for our favorite games.

So the next time you unlock a bizarre skin, stumble into an impossible dimension, catch adorable creatures, or otherwise uncover strange secrets in a video game, remember the whimsical tradition that developers continue to keep alive. And let your curiosity run wild, or who knows what you’ll discover next!

What are your favorite or most shocking gaming Easter eggs and secrets? Share your stories below, and keep hunting!