Spending your leisure time playing video games is undoubtedly fun and thrilling, but searching for hidden secrets in those video games carries its own adventure element. When we say Easter egg, we don’t mean those mouthwatering chocolate-layered eggs that you eat on Easter; instead, we refer to movie jokes, hidden references, and cheeky details.
The first-ever Easter egg in a video game was found hidden away in Moonlander in 1973, and the tradition has picked up the pace ever since. Finding these Easter eggs can be as riveting as it is challenging. In this list, we have combined some of our favorite Easter eggs that have made video games a topic of heated debate and discussion.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
When the gamers failed to spot the Easter egg after months of the game’s release, the poor developers had to reveal it themselves. The Easter egg was a hidden blueprint of a new town that was the extension of Batman: Arkham Asylum. This blueprint was a hint towards Arkham City, the game’s sequel.
To reach this hidden Easter egg, you will have to find the location of the weak wall (which is connected to Quincy Sharp’s office) using Detective Vision. Blow this weak wall to shreds with explosive foam, and you will spot the blueprint to Arkham City hanging on a wall.
The reason gamers had such a hard time finding this blueprint was that the developers made the task nearly impossible. Even after clearing all the levels and unlocking all trophies, the secret room of Warden Sharp would still be nowhere in sight. Moreover, the room is not located on any maps.
Doom 2
This interesting and brutal Easter egg is a testament to the creative minds of game developers. In this first-person shooter game, once you reach the final level, you need to shoot the menacing monster called The Icon of Sin repeatedly with a rocket launcher.
You will be presented with a pathway that goes through the hole on the monster’s face. When you walk inside this hole and use the noclip cheat code, you will enter a blood-stained room with the face of the game’s co-creator, John Romeo, on a spike.
To make things even more dramatic, John Romeo can be heard saying backward, “To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero!” Do as he says and become the ultimate winner of this animated game.
Portal – Rat Man’s Dens
In this first-person game filled with intriguing puzzles, the Aperture science center is the main setting. Throughout this clinical center, there are hidden hallways and dens that are as grizzly as they are dirty. Not to mention that they are scribbled with bizarre graffitis, strange writings, and cryptic figures.
These scribblings are the work of a schizophrenic scientist, Doug Rattmann, who unfortunately got stuck in one of the underground dens and slowly became deranged. Despite his mental condition, he was gracious enough to warn the gamers, or Chell, about what lies ahead.
The most famous scrawl being the cake is a lie is an attempt to alert Chell that the cake guaranteed by GlaDOS was indeed a ruse. The game garnered so much popularity that our mad scientist got a spin-off comic based on him.
Grand Theft Auto V
It seems like the creators of the GTA series based on the Rockstar games are in love with Easter eggs. That’s why each of their games is saturated with hidden references. This article has picked the one from the fifth series of this game, which references their paranormal activities.
In Grand Theft Auto V, when you reach underwater after defeating the ghosts and Sasquatch lurking in the woods, you come face to face with an alien.
You don’t need to worry, though, as this alien is already dead and is frozen under the ice. However, much to your bad luck, you also encounter him later in the game.
Dead Rising – Jill’s Sandwiches
Let’s face it, we all remember the zombie masterpiece, Resident Evil, don’t we? In the first movie of the series, we see the main protagonist, Jill Valentine, being saved by her colleague, Barry Burton. This game does something similar to that.
After being trapped inside a mall, Jill Valentine is about to be crushed by a lowering ceiling at a restaurant called Jill’s Sandwich. The danger is big, and the clock is ticking. But, just like in the movie, our rescuer Carry Burton once again swoops in and saves Jill from the death trap.
Carry then exclaims a well-known line, “You were almost a Jill sandwich!” which references the movie as well. Through this Easter egg, the developers of the Dead Rising gave a fun tribute to the movie and its fans.
Diablo 2
The creative minds of Diablo enthusiasts concluded that if one of the cows outside Tristram was clicked on many times, a secret portal leading to menacing cows and their Hell would open up. Although this was not the case in Diablo 1, the creators of Diablo 2 made sure to fulfill the fan’s speculation.
In Diablo 2, after completing the last quest in Act V, when you go back to Act I and jump through a portal, you will be faced with armed bovines, ready to shield their weapons at you.
This Secret Cow Level made the game even more adventurous, in addition to satisfying fan’s wishes.
Silent Hill 4 - Robbie The Rabbit
You thought bunnies were cute, adorable little creatures. Well, this thinking of yours is bound to change when you get your hands on this game. Robbie, the Rabbit, is a mascot of the Lakeside Amusement Park and makes many cameos throughout the Silent Hill series.
The protagonist of the game, Henry Townshend, has a crush on his neighbor, Eileen Galvin. Unfortunately for him, she owns a creepy pink rabbit plushie that is bound to make an appearance in your nightmares. Whenever Henry peeps into Eileen’s bedroom through a hole, he finds the rabbit sitting on her bed.
However, the scariest part is when Eileen goes missing, and Henry is admitted to the hospital; the rabbit is no longer leisurely slumped on her bed. Instead, he stared back at Henry with a creepy smile, with his foot pointed in Henry’s direction. Scary much?
The Witcher 2: Assassination Of Altair
Here is when the Witcher meets Assassin’s Creed! This Easter egg is rather a nudge towards reality: there is a limit to jumping from great heights only to land safely on a pile of hay. That’s what happened to our old hero from Assassin’s Creed, Altair.
While playing Witcher 2, when you take a stroll through the Bastille gates in the prologue, you are bound to come across a dead body dressed in white smock and hood, with his arms and legs flayed in all directions.
Although Altair finally succumbed to his demise, you get an advantage out of his death. Upon finding his corpse, you get a bonus which will give you added strength when you kill your enemy from behind.
The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past - Chris Houlihan Room
In September 1990, Volume 16 of the Nintendo Power magazine held a contest encouraging gamers to send in their pictures with a villain in Final Fantasy. The winner turned out to be Chris Houlihan, who was gifted with his own secret room in the game.
The Chris Houlihan room contains 225 Rupees and acts as a safe house for Link. There are many ways to enter the room: start from Kakariko Village or Sanctuary and then reach the secret passage as quickly as you can using the Pegasus Boots.
However, all of this comes down to Link’s location (the ideal being the two lowermost pixels) when he is transitioning between places in the last screen. If you are at any other location, you won’t reach the room, no matter your speed. The exit to this room would finally transport you to the front of Link’s house.
Hitman 2 – Potato Jesus Painting
In 2012, the poor restoration of a century-old Spanish painting of Jesus Christ by Elías García Martínez was subjected to ridicule and mockery. This painting was thus named Potato Jesus and was used by the developer of Hitman 2 as an Easter egg in 2016.
When you enter the third mission in the Sapienza level in Hitman, you will enter a party being held in the industrial area of Berlin. Take a look behind the stage of the abandoned factory, and you will come across an office. The famous painting can be seen hanging on one of the walls, cleverly hidden in the shadows.
Much to the developer’s disappointment, this Easter egg was not spotted until 2018, when a user interface designer, Morton Elgaar, tweeted about the painting. He accompanied his tweet, "Just noticed this in Sapienza," with a picture of Potato Jesus on the wall.
Conclusion
The tradition of Easter eggs may be a new one, but its charm and obsession are here to stay. The origin of the phrase Easter egg may be courtesy of Robinett in the game, Adventure; they were being used in video games way before that.
One thing is for sure, though; finding these hidden clues is an excellent source of pride, and we all owe it to Moonlander for giving us something as unique as this!
