Computer games have a concept of “easter eggs”. These are hidden puzzles that are not officially part of the game. If you make a move in a certain way, or open a cabinet at just the right moment, something surprising might happen — a hidden message perhaps, or a spectral visitation from the game’s creator.
There is an entire sociology around easter eggs. Fans share them with each other, webpages are devoted to their secrets and mysteries, and occasionally a highly inappropriate easter egg pops up that was never intended for the release version of the game (much to the embarrassment of the game’s publisher).
I wonder whether it would be possible to design a computer game solely around easter eggs. Could one build a game for which the entire reward structure consists of finding arcane hidden messages and surprises?
If such a thing already exists, I suspect somebody reading this will helpfully point it out.
My pedantic response is if easter eggs are the point of the game then they aren’t really easter eggs anymore.
The “best” existing examples I can think of are alternate reality games / viral marketing schemes / recruitment tools. Figure out these clues to unveil a secret message about an upcoming game, or a secret job application. Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
I thought of ARGs, too, and armchair treasure hunts inspired by Kit William’s Masquerade.
The easter egg in the easter egg game would be a non-easter egg. So each room in the game is full of secret doors with secret golden objects and pop-culture references and hellos from the developers, but one VERY secret door just leads to an empty room. Or maybe the game itself is just the player digging through endless easter eggs to reach the actual monsters they have to defeat. Like a non-easter egg hunt.