Crazy Video Game Secrets and Easter Eggs
December 24, 2024
•30 min read
Here are some of the craziest secrets and easter eggs in video games!
For as long as video games have existed, developers have been hiding some pretty weird stuff inside them. And we love them for it! Secrets and easter eggs have a special place in the hearts of gamers everywhere. So, from hilarious gags tucked away in the corner of sandboxes to terrifying Images we wish were never found, those are some of the craziest video game secrets ever! We’ll start off with some of the most well-known easter eggs, before diving down to the depths of the unknown.
Silent Hill 2 Secret Dog Ending
2001’s Silent Hill 2 is one of the most iconic horror experiences of all time! Its atmosphere of unending dread and horrifying monsters were scary. But despite all that terror, it’s the game’s strange sense of humor that’s on the agenda today!
The game has multiple endings depending on the choices the player makes. They’re pretty much all super depressing, with one exception, the one in the video below. A secret ending only unlockable through some supremely convoluted steps reveals that a little doggo was responsible for engineering all your suffering after all. How could she do that to us?Mew Pokémon
Nowadays it’s no secret that there were 151 original Pokémon, but that wasn’t always the case! The 151st, Mew, was at one point an urban legend. The thing is, once development of the original games, 1996’s Red and Green, was completed, programmer Shigeki Morimoto decided to play a little prank.
There was just enough space left on the game cartridge for one more creature. Going completely against protocol and without the permission of higher ups, Morimoto and some colleagues snuck Mew into the game code!
Retweet if u think I'm cute...!:3
Doom II John Romero Easter Egg
Doom, Id Software’s violent extravaganza, is responsible for pretty much every major first-person shooter you enjoy today. The second game, 1994’s Doom II, also happens to feature one of the most iconic easter eggs ever put to disk! When players enter the arena of the final boss, The Icon of Sin, they’re greeted with a chilling voice.
The Icon is basically just a face texture on a wall, with what seems to be an exposed brain for you to blast. But some players decided to use a cheat code to clip their way through the brain, and they discovered that the Icon of Sin was actually, this in the video below.Fallout Secrets
The massive game worlds of the Fallout RPGs are jam packed with easter eggs and references. Many of those come in the form of skeleton tableaus. The thing is, Fallout is a post-apocalyptic game, and human remains can be found everywhere. Some truly depressing scenes, like a couple embracing in bed can be found in the wasteland. But then the next moment, you’ll stumble on something like this in the video below:
Resident Evil 4: Don’t Shoot The Lake!
The all-time classic, Resident Evil 4, features a notorious boss fight with a huge water monster named Del Lago. Players who boot up the 2005 horror shooter will see the beast that lurks within the lake before the fight is actually due to happen. So, what happens if they decide to try and lure the thing out early? This happens:
Elder Scrolls: M'aiq The Liar
The Elder Scrolls series is, like its brother Fallout, filled to the brim with secrets. Perhaps the most iconic is a quirky cat man named M’aiq, the Liar. M’aiq first appeared in 2002’s Morrowind and has reared his head in every entry since. But who is he?
At first glance, just a strange NPC that spouts random nonsense when interacted with. However, it only seems like random nonsense! Turns out, M’aiq actually makes comments on The Elder Scrolls series as a whole and responds to fan criticisms or complaints. For example, many players wanted to use crossbows in 2006’s Oblivion. M’aiq’s opinion?Jar-Jar frozen in The Force Unleashed
In 2008’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, players will find themselves in a trophy room on Kashyyyk, home of the Wookies. Inside, they can discover nods to various creatures from the movies, such as a trio of beasties from the arena in Episode II. Pretty cool, sure, but the main draw is a figure trapped inside carbonite in the corner of the room.
A Horror Hangout
Being a zombie game, Dead Island is no stranger to the world of spooks and scares. But that 2011 action title includes an encounter with one ghoul in particular that players might recognize!
Just off the main highway, across from the Overpass Camp, you’ll find a path leading up to a strange shack. There, a hulking figure known only as Jason can be found, tearing into any nearby zombies with a machete.Doom 4 Map
It’s impossible to understate the impact the OG Doom games from the 90s had on pop culture. Luckily, when Doom received a reboot in 2016, id Software didn’t forget! In each level of the game, a secret lever can be found. Pulling it plays a little jingle and unlocks a door to a classic Doom map! Once found, players can fight their way through the whole thing in retro style, albeit with modern guns and bad guys!
Creepy Faces In Gameboy Camera
Back in 1998, Nintendo released a weird little peripheral for the Gameboy, the Gameboy Camera. It does exactly what it says on the box, allowing players to take low quality grayscale photos and edit them in silly ways. But that’s not all it does. It also features some mini games, and comes with an RPG style interface.
Strangely, there’s a “RUN” option available. Pressing it brings up a screen, with pretty normal GameBoy nonsense. But if you keep choosing the option, there’s a chance something majorly creepy could happen, like this below:Dead Space: Nicole Is Dead
2008’s Dead Space, and its 2023 remake, feature a neat little easter egg that foreshadows the game’s biggest twist. Spoilers ahead! The horror sci-fi adventure follows protagonist Isaac Clarke desperately searching for his missing wife during a nightmarish alien infestation on a spaceship.
At the end, we discover that Nicole, said wife, has been sleeping with the fishes the entire time! Isaac was merely hallucinating her. But what’s the easter egg? If we take a look at the 12 chapter names and take the first letter of each name, it spells out “Nicole is dead.”
The Ghost On Mount Gordo (GTA V)
If you’ve ever played a Grand Theft Auto game, you know that those open world titles are full of secret goodies to discover. In 2013’s immensely popular GTA V, Mount Gordo is home to one of the creepiest!
Close to the peak, there’s a rock with the word “Jock” written on it in blood. If the player arrives there between 11PM and midnight, they’re in for a scare. Floating before them will be a ghost! A female spirit with a wide-open mouth staring at the player in silence.Doki Doki: Monika AI
2017’s Doki Doki Literature Club is, itself, one big surprise. It masquerades as a cutesy dating sim, but as you play it gradually descends into a super disturbing horror game. But there’s one particular surprise in the game designed specifically to troll content creators!
Minecraft Worlds: Herobrine
Rumors have circulated on the web for over a decade about a mysterious uninvited entity appearing in singleplayer Minecraft worlds. The figure appears as a default skin with white, sinister eyes, and you might catch him silently watching you from afar.
Far Cry 4 Alternate Ending
Ubisoft’s Far Cry series is a wacky open world known for its combat and lush environments. But starting with 2014’s Far Cry 4, it became known for something else. At the start of the game, the player character arrives in the fictional country of Kyrat to return his mother’s ashes, before getting caught up in a civil war.
You wind up sat at a dinner table with the antagonist, a dictator called Pagan Min. After a short antagonizing conversation he quickly departs, leaving the player to escape and begin the game in earnest. But what if the player waits for Pagan to return?After 15 minutes, he’ll pop back, thank the player for waiting, reveal some plot twists and then allow them to peacefully leave their mother’s ashes. Roll credits! If anyone got that ending on their first playthrough, you can only imagine the disappointment!GTA Gant Bridge Easter Egg Sign
2004’s GTA: San Andreas, and its not so definitive 2021 edition have a pretty hilarious little easter egg that you can find if you jetpack up to the top of the middle spire on Gant Bridge. The irony certainly isn’t lost on me there.
Battlefield 4 Giant Shark Easter Egg
The Battlefield franchise is a military shooter that is usually known for playing things pretty straight. So, imagine the surprise of players when they discovered a freaking Megalodon lurking in the water of 2013’s Battlefield 4!
After the developers dropped multiple hints about said shark, gamers got to work and figured out that if 10 people approach a specific buoy on the map “Nansha Strike”, this happens:Hideo Kojima
Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid is a wacky series that constantly plays with audience expectations. No better is that exemplified than in 2004’s MGS 3 boss fight with The End. It's a scary name, but he’s actually just an old man with incredible aim. He’s so old in fact, that he looks about ready to pop his clogs at any second. Any player that saves the game during the fight and returns to play eight days later is in for a surprise. A special cutscene plays showing protagonist Naked Snake sneaking up on The End.
Baldur's Gate 3 Secrets
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you probably know that Baldur’s Gate 3 is the one of the biggest games around. Released in 2023, it instantly gained fame as one of the greatest RPGs ever created. But we don’t care about that it’s the weird little easter eggs we want! The game is filled to the brim with pop culture references. Simpsons fans might recognize the names of two characters over in Rivington: Itchy and Scratchy!
Skyrim Kadingir Sanctum Easter Egg
When 2011’s Skyrim released, one recurring line of dialogue from the town guards instantly became a meme.
Rat-ical
Like its rival Battlefield, Call of Duty is no stranger to bizarre easter eggs. In Modern Warfare, the 2019 reboot a little surprise awaits on the Cheshire Park multiplayer map. The player must hunt down and destroy 5 hidden mousetraps, then an entire wheel of cheese. Afterwards, they can head to a statue of the Pied Piper in the middle of the map. Placing the cheese there causes something pretty funky to happen.
Kojima's Peeping Tom
Look out, big boy Kojima is back to fill his games with weird nonsense! In 2019’s Death Stranding, players can enter a private room to rest and recuperate. While inside, they no longer control the protagonist, Sam. Instead, they control the camera and explore the room he’s chilling in. You can even, if you’re so inclined, stare at Sam and he’ll react. There are a whole heap of reactions he can have, but the most notable is if the player decides to stare at Sam's private part.
Halo 3 Monkey Man Easter Egg
In 2007’s Halo 3, a strange group of gross ape people can be found tucked away on a cliffside on the first level of the game. They don’t do anything, they don’t even blink, they just stare. You can’t destroy them either. Another of the strange hybrids can be found hidden elsewhere in the level, too.
But that’s not all! During the epilogue cutscene of 2009’s Halo 3: ODST, the player can move the camera all the way over the left to find this:The Krypt Monster (Mortal Kombat)
In Mortal Kombat’s 2011 reboot, the player can explore an area known as the Krypt. There, they can spend their in-game currency to unlock goodies like concept art. The Krypt has appeared in loads of entries in the MK saga, but that particular one is infamous amongst fans. Why? Because at any time, for no apparent reason, the player can find themselves attacked by a hideous monster. Have a look at the clip below:
The Mystery Of The Strange Man (Red Dead Redemption)
Red Dead Redemption is a hell of a good time, but it’s also a sad story. In the first game you play as John Marston, an outlaw turned family man who just wants to leave his past behind. But the past manages to catch up to him.
At various points while playing, you’ll bump into a mysterious figure in a black suit and top hat known only as “The Strange Man”. He somehow knows all about John’s past and casually implies in conversation that he’s either the reaper or the devil. Aside from that, you learn practically nothing else about him.Until that is, in 2018’s prequel. A spooky old shack can be found in the middle of the wilderness in the Lemoyne region of the map. If visited at different points throughout the game, a solitary painting will slowly be added to, as well as cryptic writing appearing on the walls. If visited in the game’s epilogue, when the player character is switched to John, the painting will be completed. It’s The Strange Man! But that’s not all, just take a look at this clip below:GTA: Heart Of Liberty City
The Liberty City of 2008’s GTA IV is a colossal sandbox filled with secrets. It’s a clear parody of New York City, complete with its own version of the Statue of Liberty called The Statue of Happiness. It's a creepy thing that appears to be US politician Hilary Clinton’s face, because she’s been an outspoken critic of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
But it’s what’s inside the statue that we’re most interested in. A sign outside the base reads “No Hidden Content this way.” So, obviously, you’ll ignore it and head inside. Once you do, climbing a ladder reveals a colossal, beating heart chained in place, meaning the heart of the city.Doomguy
When Doom launched in 1993 it instantly became top dog and that meant everybody else wanted to take it down a peg! In 1997, Duke Nukem 3D arrived, a competing first person shooter that, frankly, borrows a lot from Doom. But the game still threw some shade! In the Death Row level, a secret area can be located that hides this:
Resident Evil 2: Rebecca Chamers Photo Easter Egg
While he doesn’t physically appear in either the OG Resident Evil 2 from 1998 or the remake from 2019, antagonist Albert Wesker’s presence is still felt. In some places, a little too much!
If the player heads to the STARS offices of the police station, which is the unit Wesker led, they can find his desk. By interacting with it a grand total of 50 times, you’ll obtain a mysterious roll of film. After taking it to the dark room and developing it, you’ll discover a super weird photo of STARS member Rebecca Chambers And yes, the easter egg returns in the remake!Doom 3: Mars City Receptionist Report Easter Egg
2004’s Doom 3 is a pretty immersive game. It does its best to draw you into the world so that when the horror hits, it really hits! But outside of the violence and the scares, the intro of the game hides one of the most hilarious secrets in gaming!
Dopefish In Doom Eternal
If you’re a child of the 90s, there’s every chance you know the Dopefish! Anyone who doesn't know this character, let me explain. A doofy little character that first appeared in 1991 in the classic Commander Keen series, that cute yet stupid fish became beloved amongst a certain generation of gamers. Because of that, game developers have been secretly adding him into their video games ever since. Like the original 1996 Quake, where he can be found in the well of wishes.
Shirtless Spider-Man
Insomniac’s 2018 Spider-Man game for the PS4 features a myriad of references to other, alternate Spider-Men from the comic books. Spider-Man 2099, the Scarlet Spider, and even naked Spidey! Check out this footage below:
The Sims 4 Chalk Outline
When players first launch 2014’s The Sims 4, they’re likely to choose a cheaper property. After all, smart to start small, right? One of the cheapest options in the game is apartment 1313 on Chic Street. At first, it seems like an absolute steal! Well, turns out there’s a reason for that. If the player removes the carpet to replace it, they’ll see a chalk outline. Turns out the property was the sight of a heinous crime!
Diablo II: The Secret Cow Level
In the early days of action RPG Diablo, a rumor spread like wildfire about a super-secret level hidden within the fantasy dungeon crawler, the cow level. Purely due to speculation and word of mouth, a huge number of players came to believe that a hidden bovine themed area existed in the 1996 title. According to them, clicking a trio of cows in the game’s hub town the right number of times would open up the secret level.
The Evil Within
Tango Gameworks’ The Evil Within series is debatably one of the best modern examples of survival horror. It’s also got my personal favorite easter egg of all time! Near the start of the second game from 2017, protagonist Sebastian runs into O’Neal, a friendly NPC held up in a safehouse.
Later in the game, while preparing to face Stefano, one of the central antagonists, the player can make the long trek back to chat with O’Neal. They have no reason to O’Neal never offers much help and it’s super time consuming to make the journey. But it’s definitely worth the effort! 10/10, a terrible pun and a fourth wall break?Death Stranding: B.T. In Shower
The private rooms in Death Stranding are filled with easter eggs, secrets, and references. Some of them occur at random, meaning that players could finish an entire playthrough without ever seeing them. In that case, that may not be such a bad thing! When waking up after a nap, there’s a chance that you might not be alone. If morbid curiosity gets the better of you, you’ll want to take a closer look and see this:
Wave Race: Blue Storm Easter Egg
Wave Race: Blue Storm is a radical water sports racer from the Nintendo GameCube era. Released way back in 2001, by the time 2010 rolled around folks assumed there were no secrets left to unearth from the classic game. I’m sure you’ve already guessed, they were wrong!
That year, NeoGAF forum user RaoulDuke posted a secret cheat code he’d found that drastically changes the tone of the game. This is the way the game’s announcer sounds normally. Listen to the video clip below:Just Cause 4: Shooting Cows
The Just Cause series is known for its massive open worlds filled with bombastic action and over the top weaponry. Some weapons, however, are far more over the top than others! In 2018’s Just Cause 4, players can locate a secret weapon, the cow gun. What is it with easter eggs and cows!?
FPS Trepang2 Backrooms
If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you’ve almost certainly heard of the backrooms. The story goes that it’s possible to fall out of reality and land in the terrifying backrooms dimension. The thing is, you don’t expect to see it popping up in serious videogame shooters. Well, the developers of FPS Trepang2 knew that, and used it to their full advantage.
In the mission “Site 83”, you can actually wander a short, spooky section of the backrooms! But that’s not the easter egg. Many players that tried noclipping around the game to explore it found they accidentally phased straight into the sinister setting and became trapped in the sickly yellow halls.Scooby Doo Sarcophagus Jumpscare
Speaking of spooks next is the ancient Scooby Doo flash game Escape from the Coolsonian. Released in 2004 to tie in with the movie Monsters Unleashed, it was a pretty standard point and click adventure game for kids, where players solve puzzles in a haunted museum.
But why are we talking about it? There’s a sarcophagus in the middle of a room in the second level, which the player is encouraged to pry open with a crowbar. When they do, they’re greeted with this:Creepy Face Easter Egg In SOMA
2015’s SOMA is an intense psychological horror game that questions what it means to be human, so you know we’re wading into murky waters there! In one particular section, protagonist Simon enters a dream sequence where he sees his love interest Ashley stood facing away from him. They have a brief chat, then the player is flung back into the horror.
Wedding Proposal Hidden In Spider-Man
When Marvel’s Spider-Man was in development for the PS4, a fan named Tyler Schultz contacted developer Insomniac with a request. He was planning on proposing to his girlfriend and wanted to enlist their help! The dev agreed to place his marriage proposal inside the game world of Spidey, and so the game released in 2018 with a cute secret on a theater marquee.
A wedding proposal hidden in the new Spider-Man game has become the world's saddest easter egg. bit.ly/2Mk3tWw
