Easter Eggs: The Secrets Hidden in Software
Hidden surprises that developers tuck into games, apps, and websites for curious people to find.
Hidden surprises that developers tuck into games, apps, and websites for curious people to find.
An Easter egg is a hidden surprise that the people who build software put there on purpose. It is not in the menus. It is not in the instructions. You only find it if you get curious and experiment. Just like hunting for candy eggs, the fun is in the search. Below is a grid of plain tiles, but one of them is secretly an egg. Start clicking and hunt it down.
One of these tiles is hiding an egg. Click to search.
In 1980 a programmer named Warren Robinett was making the Atari game "Adventure". Back then Atari did not put developers' names on their games. So Robinett secretly hid a room that displayed "Created by Warren Robinett", reachable only by carrying an invisible 1-pixel dot to a certain spot. When the company found it, instead of removing it they decided to encourage more of them, and called them "Easter eggs".
Some Easter eggs are triggered by a secret sequence of buttons. The most famous one in all of gaming is the Konami Code, created in 1986 for a hard game called Gradius. Players who entered it got extra power. Today it is hidden in countless games and websites. Enter it now: press the keys on your keyboard, or tap the buttons below.
Lots of Easter eggs hide inside text commands. The people who build command-line tools love to sneak in jokes that only appear when you type the magic word. Try the secret commands below in this mini terminal. Type one and press Enter, or click a hint to fill it in.
Now you know what to look for. Here are a few simple ones we have hidden for you. We are only giving away the easy ones. The rest are out there waiting for a curious explorer to stumble on them.
barrelrollJust start typing the word "barrelroll" anywhere on your dashboard. The whole page spins a full 360 degrees. It is a nod to a famous Google trick.
Enter ↑↑↓↓←→←→ B A (the code you just learned) for a confetti burst and a hidden retro green-screen mode.
slIt is the classic typo of "ls". Instead of listing your files, a little ASCII steam locomotive chugs across the screen.
coffeeThe computer replies that it is a teapot. Believe it or not, "418 I'm a teapot" is a real internet status code from an April Fools' joke in 1998.
Some of the best ones are hidden deep inside the apps, and they are far more surprising than these. We are not going to tell you where. That would spoil the hunt. Keep your eyes open, try strange things, and you will find them. Happy hunting.
Now you know the secret: software is full of hidden surprises. An Easter egg is a little joke, message, or feature that the people who built something tucked away on purpose, just for the curious. The very first one was hidden in an Atari game in 1980. Once you start looking, you'll spot them everywhere: in games, apps, websites, even your search engine. This site has plenty too. Go hunt.
A hidden message, joke, or feature that the creators put into software on purpose. It does not show up in the menus or the manual. You only find it if you experiment, get curious, or know the secret.
The first famous one was hidden in the Atari game "Adventure" (1980). A programmer named Warren Robinett secretly put his own name in a hidden room because Atari did not credit its developers. Atari called these hidden surprises "Easter eggs", like the candy adults hide for kids to hunt.
For fun, as a signature, and as a reward for curious people. Hiding a little surprise is a tiny act of joy, a way to say "a real person made this, and we hope you smile when you find it".
The Konami Code works in dozens of games and websites. Google does tricks when you search certain phrases. Your favorite apps and even this very site are full of hidden surprises. Curiosity is the only tool you need.
Put your new knowledge into practice!