WHAT ARE EASTER EGGS?

Easter egg is a hidden joke, message or a credit on different digital platforms such as computer games, computer programs or webpages.

The name provokes excitement of a traditional search for painted eggs during the celebration of Easter and associatively the term was successfully transferred into the digital world. Since development of video games and computers has rapidly grown, there were many games, programs and online sites with something hidden, often intended solely for entertainment.

RULES

All easter eggs should be:

rule one

ENTERTAINING

Yes, this is subjective, but it's important! If it's not entertaining, it's not an egg.

rule two

ON PURPOSE

It must NOT be accidental. Eggs are there on purpose, they were intentionally made.

rule three

PERSONAL

Corporate logos and references to other famous people or products aren't eggs. Eggs have to have that "personal touch".

EXAMPLES

Konami icon

Konami code is a popular and widely known way to hide an easter egg.

The code has a long running tradition in the old video games, which were published under the brand Konami. It was used as a cheat code since 1986. The player should press the sequence of buttons (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → b a) and this enabled him to cheat in the game. Now the code is really an easter egg, because it can no longer be found in the modern video games of Konami, yet many other games and websites still like to remember the legendary sequence and conceal their additional entertainment by using the well-known sequence of keys.

konami code
Just digg right in!
digg.com
designologue.com/mint
voccine.com
They should be taken on!
nikdaum.com
zeno.name.com
elliottkember.com
Konami is for geeks!
geekandhype.com
log.com.tr
kupiya.com
Google icon

Google has a full basket of eggs hidden in its great Google-verse.

Nearly all of them are of a geek variety and can be found through their core service - searching. All you have to do is write a certain word/word combination in the search bar. Try the ones below!

Word play
  • "blink html"/"blink tag"
  • "do a barrel roll"
  • "skew"
  • "anagram"
  • "recursion"
Google search games
  • "zerg rush"
  • "atari breakout" (search images!)
  • "tic tac toe"
  • "solitaire"
Others
  • "flip a coin"
  • "roll a die"
  • "super mario bros" (find a brick with a question mark)
  • "webdriver torso" (see logo!)
Google icon

YouTube furthermore offers some fresh eggs!

The connection between Google and YouTube is obvious when it comes to easter eggs. Again geeky, again fun! Some of them are accessible via the YouTube search bar, others are buried deeper in the site. Try the ones below!

Search fun
  • "use the force luke"
  • "do the harlem shake"
  • "doge meme"
  • "webdriver torso"
While watching a video
  • type "awesome" while the focus is on the video and see the progress bar
  • press "down arrow" when buffering
youtube's automated account
Channel called "Webdriver torso" was made just for testing. But its video "tmpRkRL85" is hiding an egg!

MORE

Eeggs.com is an extensive library of easter eggs, which are broken down by category and offer a good overview and a lot of fun exploring hidden features not only online, but also in software, art, music and film.
Credit for the rules section on this page goes to them.


Konamicodesites.com has a long list of Konami code sites, although some of them seem outdated (their source code may have changed since being listed). But the best part is, that you have to be a real Konami code fan to view the content!