Easter Egg: What are Easter Eggs in games?

Similar to Easter, where Easter Eggs are hidden in all kinds of places for people to find, there are Easter Eggs hidden at random spots in Video Games. Developers hide small secrets across games for players, and it's never known what it might be.

Like in real life, where people can find all kinds of things in plastic eggs, Easter Eggs in games can be all kinds of things. These consist of small jokes, cameos, references, messages, or subtle information about a title’s franchise. While nowadays Easter Eggs don’t change how the games play, older ones often have cheat codes and collectibles that could give you an advantage or a disadvantage.

What was the first Easter Egg in a game?

The first ever recorded Easter Egg in a video game was in a title called Adventure, in 1979 for the Atari 2600. At the time, games didn’t include the names of developers in projects for various reasons. Warren Robinett, who disagreed with this rule, programmed a message in the game with his signature.

During a certain part of the game, players can find a different "dot" somewhere around the room that's different from other dots. When that dot is touched, the player is teleported to an area where Robinett’s message lies. The message is “Created by Warren Robinett.”