4 of the Greatest Video Game Easter Eggs

Last Updated: July 13, 2018

Easter eggs

Drawing inspiration from the popular children’s game, a video game ‘Easter egg’ is a secret feature, hidden message or inside joke that is often placed within a video game. Unless you’re reading about them on this website, players must put in a high level of game time in order to discover the hidden message or unlockable secrets within the game. They are often discovered by serious gamers who devote enough time to fully exploring every aspect of their favorite title.

We’ve seen a lot of great Easter eggs over the years, but here are those Easter eggs we consider to be some of the absolute best. Sometimes Easter eggs are just to keep us on our toes, a friendly nod to fellow developers and something to make us smile. Other times, Easter eggs can add another layer to the story, frighten us, help us. Whatever it might be, Easter Eggs help video gamers feel connected to the developers and the game as a whole.

Portal – The Lair of the Rat Man

Released by Valve in 2007, this complex puzzle game received critical acclaim from gamers across board. Portal would go on to win game of the year in 2008.

The gameplay itself takes place within a science center. Gamers work to maneuver Chell, the main character throughout the levels using only a Portal Gun, a device that can be used in a number of unique ways for creating a connection between any two points.

As mysterious as the story of Portal is, the levels themselves held some secrets for players who showed enough persistence, patience, and courage. The puzzler boasted numerous secret dens. Certain areas could be discovered via crawlspaces and were eerily decorated. These secret areas were the hideout of a certain scientist from the story, Doug Rattman. Fans of Portal will recognize the “cake is a lie” line, these words came from Doug Rattman himself as what was left of his mind slowly became consumed by the insanity of Aperture Science.

These areas are loads of fun to discover and add a solid layer of depth to the Portal storyline.

Diablo 2 – Hell Cows

Building off of a misguided rumor, Blizzard decided to appease fans in the second installment of the Diablo franchise, Diablo II. Initially, many gamers slaved away attempting to find a mysterious cow level, that only the most dedicated Diablo players would find.

Within Diablo II, there lies a secret Cows stage of gameplay. Known on the internet as “The Hell Cows“, or “Hell Bovines“, this level promises onslaught of cattle madness. Players will face waves of slow-moving, hard-hitting bovines. If you can get past how hilarious a herd of bipedal armed cows look, you’ll find this level makes for some especially good experience gaining. There’s plenty of cows to be slain, just don’t take Blizzard’s word for it. According to them, “there is no Cow level“.

Without going into specifics (you can find exact instructions online), players can access the secret Cow level by obtaining a certain item before the end of Diablo II, and then make sure to step into the right portal. This will launch you into the realm of the Hellish Bovines.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas & Grand Theft Auto: V

On Gant Bridge within San Andreas is a very Rockstar-esque Easter egg. Rockstar has a very interesting take on comedy within the Grand Theft Auto franchise, usually placing literal Easter eggs around the games. On top of the Gant Bridge in San Fiero is a message that reads, “There are no Easter Eggs up here. Go Away“. A bit of a jest from Rockstar on that one.

In Grand Theft Auto: 5, players can catch a glimpse of the mysterious cryptid, Bigfoot. A certain night mission allows players to scan the darkened woods with a sniper rifle. If they look closely enough, they will see Bigfoot! Or, at least, someone dressed up as Bigfoot. Rockstar hasn’t officially confirmed whether or not this is the actual Bigfoot. However, amongst the multitudes of Easter Eggs in the Grand Theft Auto franchises, this one is especially great.

Gamers familiar with the San Andreas franchise might notice this one. If you go down Grove St. in Grand Theft Auto: V, you’ll see some all too familiar characters ride by on bicycles. These guys look like Carl, Sweet and Big Smoke from San Andreas infamy.

But wait, there’s more, if you go into Franklin’s second home, you’ll find a novel titled “Red Dead”. The author? None other than J. Marston.

Rockstar has been creating amazing video games for years now, and the Grand Theft Auto franchise is no exception. There are far too many Easter Eggs within the series to fully list them here, however if you’re unfamiliar with Grand Theft Auto and love Easter Eggs, or are just looking for some added replay value, Grand Theft Auto: 5 is a gaming masterpiece.

Pokémon: Missing No

What’s Pokémon without a little glitch now and again? Some of the first Pokémon games featured a glitched Pokémon known simply as MissingNo. MissingNo was actually an error handler developed by Game Freak for identifying when the game tries to fetch data that doesn’t technically exist. Somehow, it still snuck through the cracks and into the finalized version of the games.

Available in Pokémon Red or Blue for the Gameboy, MissingNo was first spotted by players in the Safari Zone, an area marketed for the exploring and capturing of the more exotic Pokémon types. With a few well-placed steps, players can maneuver into the right area to find the fabled blur of a Pokémon.

If players could effectively track and catch a MissingNo, they would be blessed with infinite items, sort of. Any item placed within the player’s sixth item slot would suddenly have an infinite quantity. With this glitch, a player could easily catch every Pokémon by having no limit on Master Balls, or level up all of their Pokémon with unlimited rare candies.

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