Easter egg

An easter egg is a hidden surprise or trick that is like a cheat code, but without the code. They are small surprises programmers add to the game for players to uncover, much like candy eggs in a real-life Easter egg hunt. Many easter eggs are purely for entertainment. Some examples include hidden names or faces of programmers, references to other games, or messages for the player.

Easter eggs should not be confused with glitches, cheats, or techniques. Many do not alter gameplay at all.

Examples

 * Barrel Cannon (trophy) - On one the bottom of the Barrel Cannon trophy is the message "2L84Me". When spoken, it sounds like "too late for me," referring to the usual KO after being shot from a barrel.
 * Daisy's third eye - In earlier versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Daisy trophy contains a mysterious 3rd eye hidden in her hair, on the back of her head. It was apparently removed in later versions.
 * Sleepy time - An easter egg exclusive to Event 39: Jigglypuff Live!, sleepy time will occur when the large screen in the background of Pokemon Stadium is centered on the player's Jigglypuff, and the player uses Jigglypuff's Sing attack. All three of the other Jigglypuffs will fall asleep, regardless of the distance from the player's Jigglypuff, for much longer than usual.
 * Fox and Falco's Smash Taunt - By quickly tapping down just once on the directional pad while playing as either Fox or Falco on the Venom or Corneria stages, the player can use a special taunt. A similar effect happens when Fox, Falco, or Wolf performs the trick on the Lylat Cruise stage in SSBB.
 * Samus's Extended Grapple - This will allow Samus to have an extended Grappling Beam. To activate it, rapidly press Z while pressing Down, Up, Down, Up constantly on the D Pad. The next time you press Z, the beam should be extra long. If not, then try again. Once the super beam is activated, you have to press Z again when the tip of the beam is on the opponent to actually grab them. Otherwise the beam would just pass right through them. If you hold L or R and press A, the grappling beam will actually home in on the closest target. Once you die, you have to do the code all over again to get the beam to extend again.
 * In Melee, Metal Mario's trophy has a reflection of the Yoshi's Island stage on its surface.
 * Also in Melee, Ganondorf's trophies (when viewed under certain lighting) have glowing eyes.
 * Snake's Codec Messages - Using a method on Shadow Moses Island similar to the Star Fox secret taunt, Solid Snake can contact his support team via codec and get information regarding his opponents.
 * In Trophy Hoard mode in Brawl, in the background with presents, there is a black DS Lite in a present box on the left.
 * In the Ice stage of Pokémon Stadium 2, there is a poster of an adorable white kitten inside of the shack in the middle.

See: Easter egg (media)