What are 'easter eggs'?

What are 'easter eggs'?

Harry Ravenswood (Lead Designer, Kuju Entertainment) gives expert video advice on: What is a developer and what do they do?; What are 'easter eggs'?; Why do developers put easter eggs in games? and more...

Easter eggs are hidden, usually funny little items that the development team have put into the game for the player to find. A good example of an Easter egg would be Prince of Persia - Warrior Within. This was a game that came out a few years ago and one of the secret hidden weapons you could find was actually Rainman, who's a character from another game. You could actually find his hand, just stick it on your belt and run around. You've got a weapon that really doesn't fit with the universe, but it was kind of fun and other gamers knew what this Easter egg was.