10 Iconic Video Games With Hidden Messages You Totally Missed

The tedious old conversation about video games not being considered “art” has died down in recent years, because if a medium can produce experiences like The Last Of Us, Doom 2016 and Firewatch, it’s obviously doing something right.

While games aren’t widely acclaimed for their plots or psychological depth, that’s not to say the developers don’t inject them with meaning. They have a long time during development to sneak hidden meanings and messages into their creations, and leave subtle clues for players to decrypt for themselves.

These hidden goodies can be quickly uncovered by savvy gamers, or they can go undiscovered for years. Part of the fun is following the clues and seeking them out, unearthing whatever obscure little note the designers left to taunt players.

Here are some of the best hidden messages and secrets unearthed over time, some of which took many years to find.

Some are just for fun, while others shed new light on the story.

The original Uncharted feels a bit dated now compared to its sequels, but it’s still a fun adventure, and introduced the world to Drake and his merry band of thieves.

Naughty Dog likes to throw the occasional easter egg into their games, like the newspaper report in Uncharted 3 that hints at the impending apocalypse seen in The Last Of Us. Any Spanish speakers playing through the original might have also noticed a cheeky message written on a gravestone during chapter fifteen.

If you care to read it, the rough translation calls you a big nerd for doing so, and that you need to get out of the house. Apparently, this caused offence to the handful of people who noticed it, but it’s hard to take such a tongue-in-cheek message seriously.