Strangest Easter Eggs in Video Games

Game developers frequently hide Easter eggs that point to famous works, iconic figures, or memes. Some are truly odd and memorable, while others feel more like inside jokes. This piece rounds up the strangest Easter eggs that have stuck in gamers’ memories.

Meowing after every successful hit in Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 stands as Valve’s latest entry in the storied shooter series. It preserves the brisk, unforgiving action of the original, with no respawns within rounds. To soften the mood, players can trigger cat meows after landing each kill. The setup is simple and relies on a few console commands:

• alias SOUNDcat01 “play soundsambientanimalcat_01;”
• alias SOUNDcat02 “play soundsambientanimalcat_02;”
• alias SOUNDcat03 “play soundsambientanimalcat_03;”

Then a key can be bound to SOUNDcat01, for example bind X to SOUNDcat01; X can be any key in the game.

Half-naked men in Hitman: Blood Money

Black humor runs through many Hitman installments, and some scenes push the line of believability. In the mission titled Till Death Do Us Part, the target is the father and groom at a wedding. If a lucky coin is tossed during the ceremony, a gag sequence brings out a crowd of men in shorts who applaud. Some players interpreted this as a playful jab at rural humor in the American outback.

Articles about Easter eggs in games

1. Secrets and Easter eggs in Cyberpunk 2077 — references to Hideo Kojima, Half-Life 3, The Witcher 3, and Dark Souls.
2. Secrets and Easter eggs in Watch Dogs: Legion — nods to Dark Souls, Mirror’s Edge, rabbits and cats.
3. Secrets and Easter Eggs of Hogwarts Legacy — a Dark Souls bonfire, a basil, the Goblet of Fire, Severus Snape, and more references.
4. Secrets and Easter Eggs of Atomic Heart — the cities of Rapture and Columbia, Sonic, Prisoner of the Caucasus, anime, and other nods.
5. Secrets and Easter Eggs of Resident Evil: Village — Dimitrescu prototype, Duke reactions, lightsabers, Stoneslayer, and references to earlier Resident Evil games.
6. Secrets and Easter eggs of Death Stranding — references to games and films, a nod to Kojima, and more.
7. Easter eggs and secrets of Kingdom Come: Deliverance — Roach from The Witcher 3, nods to The Godfather and The Lord of the Rings.
8. Secrets and Easter Eggs of Detroit: Become Human — nods to Heavy Rain, Metal Gear Solid, and Terminator.
9. Control Secrets and Easter Eggs — Hideo Kojima, Alan Wake, and Poets of the Fall.
10. Resident Evil 2 Secrets and Easter Eggs — Nemesis, Jill’s Russian pies and sandwiches, Dead Rising’s Frank West, the classic soundtrack, The Shining reference, and more.

Aggressive cows in Diablo 2

Early Diablo discussions featured a rumor about clicking a cow enough times to unlock a hidden level. It began as a cheeky joke and later became a formal element in Diablo II when Blizzard expanded the gag in the sequel.

After finishing the final quest in Act 5, players return to the starting camp and place the Tome of Town Portal into the Horadric Cube along with Wirt’s Bell. A doorway opens to a new area where dozens of aggressive cows roam on their hind legs and attack foes with spears.

From fans’ perspective, this Easter egg became a beloved inside joke that circulated through early online chatter and fan lore.

Many readers may wonder whether such Easter eggs could scare gamers.

Mortuary in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

In Skyrim, a moment echoes a similar vibe to other famous game secrets. By using a console command such as player.moveto 0001A683, players can jump to a room that displays the bodies of killed NPCs with specific names, offering a morbid backstage peek into the world’s fiction.

Creepy faces in the Game Boy camera interface

The Game Boy Camera, released in 1998, brought a real camera to a handheld system with a 128 by 128 pixel resolution. Some games used this accessory for special effects. Production of the device ended in 2002, but a Run Mode option could reveal eerie faces on screen and a prompt asking Who are you running from?

The Run option would trigger unsettling faces on the screen, a reminder of how eerie the 1990s could feel for young players. These playful jokes traveled with many Nintendo titles during that era.

Nightmare sounds, scary face of the main character and mention of the devil in Sonic CD

During the Mega Drive era, Sonic CD offered an Easter egg that could frighten players. A sound check with code fragments FM #46, PCM #46, 12, DA no. 25 triggered a grimace on the main character and sinister music. In the American release, the word majin appeared, a mispronunciation of Masato Nishimura’s name. That misstep fed fan theories about a devilish presence in the game, enriching the lore surrounding the moment.

Kraken in Assassin’s Creed 2

While later installments leaned into myth, Assassin’s Creed 2 kept a historically grounded tone. A Kraken encounter in the canals of Venice appears as a hidden spectacle. In the Visitazione stash area, a skull-emblem door leads to a scene where Ezio observes the water. If nothing is done for about thirty seconds, the Kraken surfaces, posing no real danger to the hero.

Sounds in the main menu while the original Xbox is running

The original Xbox, released over two decades ago, can produce unusual sounds when left in standby. Whispers and eerie chants mix with eerie music, giving a fleeting sense of a haunted console.

Concert of a rock band in the first Gothic

In the opening of Gothic, a live performance by the folk group In Extremo appears in the Oude Kamp. The modern remake may handle this differently, but the collaboration helped shape the soundtrack. In the German and certain localized releases, the performance is included; in other versions it can be absent.

John Romero’s head in Doom 2

Among Doom fans, the Romero head Easter egg is legendary. In the final level against the Icon of Sin, players can use a cheat to pass through walls and reach a secret screen where John Romero’s severed head lies. Shooting the head completes the stage.

John Romero, a co-creator and longtime collaborator at id Software, reportedly approved placing the head as a playful jab. The idea came from his colleagues, and Romero later suggested keeping the Easter egg in the game’s final revision. A separate profile on Romero can offer more context for those curious.

Several readers recall these moments vividly, and they reflect how Easter eggs can become cultural touchstones within gaming lore.

Readers may recall many of these moments. They are a reminder of how developers hide surprises that spark conversations long after release.

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