The term “Easter egg” has developed a new meaning in recent years. Far from a candied or chocolate egg to be enjoyed on Easter morning, it now refers to digital surprises.
But how did this happen? When did Easter eggs stop being just seasonal treats and become, well, Easter eggs?
What Is an Easter Egg?
Until very relatively recently, Easter eggs were standard farmed bird eggs, painted for decoration to celebrate Easter. Early eggs were often painted red, to represent the blood of Jesus Christ.
Decorated eggs predate Easter, however; painted eggs were placed in Egyptian tombs, for example. Their association with the cycle of rebirth and death dates back millennia.
Since the mid 19th century, gifting chocolate Easter eggs has become a tradition in the UK and Europe. In other parts of the world, Christians use candied or marzipan eggs to celebrate Easter.
No, I Mean, What Is an Easter Egg in Movies and Games?
Easter eggs can basically be described as something hidden in electronic media.
So, software, games, films, TV shows, maybe even the hidden track on a CD or DVD, can all be described as Easter eggs.
The term “Easter egg” was first coined by Atari’s Steve Wright in 1979, who likened a hidden message in the game arcade game Adventure to an Easter egg hunt. (This is referred to the movie Ready Player One.)
Consequently, references to Easter eggs in digital media are now commonplace.
5 Famous Easter Eggs in Games
A number of AAA video games have featured Easter eggs, often in plain site. In many cases these can be considered “fan service” but often depend on the player paying attention to dialogue.
- Homefront: The Revolution (2016) features TimeSplitters 2 (2002), which can be played by inputting a code at an in-game arcade machine.
- GTA: San Andreas (2004) features a mission (Black Project) which is clearly inspired by Half-Life (1998). Careful observation in the secret base reveals a crowbar as used by Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) features many notable Easter eggs. Perhaps the most interesting is the sighting of a UFO at 2am in a remote waterside shack.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator X (2007) features references to “Longhorn” and “Vista”--Microsoft Vista’s working title was “Longhorn.”
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (2022) has a number of amusing Easter eggs. A favorite is Qui-Gonn Jinn claiming to have “a particular set of skills.”
Meanwhile, Google has a bunch of video game Easter eggs available via its search page.
11 Amazing Easter Eggs in Applications
Various applications that you use every day have Easter eggs hidden in them.
- In Office 95, Microsoft Excel featured a mini-game called “The Hall of Tortured Souls.” After completing a Doom-like maze, the names and faces of Excel’s developers could be seen
- Office 97 features a flight simulator hidden in Microsoft Excel, a pinball game in Word, and a magic 8-ball toy simulation.
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Linux users can invoke an ASCII cow with the terminal command apt-get moo.
- Adobe Creative Cloud features six Easter eggs. These include pre-release artwork, a banana button, toast and coffee brushes, and even a Star Wars-style title exposition crawl.
Many other apps and utilities have secret extras, sometimes more interesting than hidden credits.
5 Famous Easter Eggs in DVDs and Blu-rays and TV Shows
Some of the most notable examples of Easter eggs can be found in film and television. Typically, these are deleted scenes or unlisted bonus features.
- Doctor Who (DVD range): the grey/silver editions feature hidden menu items, featuring everything from PDFs to forgotten clips.
- The Avengers (Blu-ray): secret files on each of the Avengers.
- The Dark Knight (DVD and Blu-ray): alternative “Jokerized” version of the movie’s trailer.
- Spider-Man 2 (DVD): Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock is replaced by Willem Defoe in a comedy extra.
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition (DVD and Blu-ray): already jam-packed full of extras, various Tolkien-flavored Easter eggs can be found, with guest stars including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
DVDs and Blu-rays are less popular these days, which gives streaming services an opportunity to include hidden extras in shows.
Squeezing Easter eggs into final edits is increasingly popular, so keep your eyes peeled for more.
Doesn’t Google Do Easter Eggs?
Google is known for its various Easter eggs. Some appear on its main search page, while others appear in the Android operating system.
Google’s 5 Most Memorable Easter Eggs
Various amusing, quirky, and cryptic Easter eggs are included in Google search. Use the following search terms:
- “grogu” will initiate a graphic of the Star Wars character which has “force powers” when clicked
- “pele” changes “Goo….gle” to “Goo….al”
- “ramadan” displays a scene centered around a crescent moon and a mini-game with a special message: “You found it! Ramadan Kareem to you and your loved ones!”
- “text adventure” to enjoy a text-based adventure game
- “anagram” to see the response “Did you mean: nag a ram”
We’ve compiled a selection of movie and TV-related Google Easter eggs.
The various Android Easter eggs include are typically related to the Android version and its codename. Mini-games and quirky graphics are typical with these hidden extras.
For example, in Android 13 (Tiramisu) the Easter egg is unlocked as follows:
- Open Settings > About Phone (or About Device)
- Tap Android version
- Repeatedly tap Android version in the sub-menu
- When you see the clock, move the hands to read one o’clock (13:00 hours)
- A 13 will appear—tap and hold to reveal different backgrounds
Our list of Google Android Easter eggs features more examples.
Enjoy Easter Eggs All Year Long!
Easter eggs in games, movies, and software are--unsurprisingly--named after the season gift that Christians use to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It’s basically about the Easter egg hunt; you “hunt” for the hidden extras.
Whether you enjoy chocolate eggs, painted eggs, marzipan eggs, or finding fun gifts in video games and movies, Easter eggs are the gift you can enjoy all year round.
The big question is, will you share them, or leave these digital gifts for others to find and enjoy?