10 Video Game Mini-Games Discovered YEARS Later

Who among us doesn't love a fun little mini-game? 

When they're done right they can serve as a fun distraction from the main game, and yet, some of them are hidden so ingeniously that they only end up coming to light a little while later.

And by "a little while later," in this case we mean years later, and in a few extreme cases perhaps even a couple of decades after the game was originally released.

That's absolutely true of these 10 mini-games, which no matter how fun and fleshed out they might seem, were well-kept secrets for a long time before they were finally stumbled upon one way or another.

In most instances enterprising players dug around in the game's code or simply stumbled upon them by accident and then shared their findings online, while in a few examples the mini-game was so sneakily hidden that one of the devs themselves had to finally bring it to light.

No matter how they were finally exposed to the world, though, these mini-games all went undiscovered for at least a couple of years first...

In 2016, some five years after Gears of War 3 was released, YouTube channel GoW TacCom revealed an Easter egg mini-game they'd just discovered.

In House of Sand - the second chapter of the game's second act - there are three coins hidden on trees throughout the level, and if you can find and shoot each of them in a specific order, you'll be suddenly transported into a cave.

In this cave, there will be a ribcage-like structure below you, from which Locust will suddenly burst out of the ground from random spots for you to shoot, in the vein of a carnival shooting gallery. 

However, each of the five Locust who appear will vanish into the void after flying through the air, so you've only got one shot to hit each of them.

Once this little mini-game is over, you'll then be able to receive a weapon depending on how well you performed.