The Quest to Find the First Video Game Easter Egg

What was the first ever video game easter egg? One man went a long way to find out.

Starship 1
Ed Fries

Game designers have been hiding easter eggs in games from the very beginning, little hidden gems you'll only spot if you're looking for them. Almost every game you'll ever play has some little joke or surprise waiting for clever players to find. But what was the first video game easter egg ever made?

This is a difficult question to answer, but it's commonly accepted that the first video game with an easter egg was released in 1978 or 1979. But arcade game aficionado Ed Fries, investigating something completely different, accidentally stumbled on one that may be even earlier.

It all started when he was interviewing an Atari engineer, Ron Milner. Milner programmed several old arcade games including one called Starship 1, which was released in 1977. For this game, Milner built a backdoor that would print "Hi Ron!" and give free games if a certain button combination was pressed. However, Milner didn't remember the exact combination.

Fries then spent a considerable amount of time trying to hunt down exactly what this button combination was and trying to recreate it himself. This was far from easy, as he had to purchase and repair his own Starship 1 cabinet.

All his struggles were worth it in the end, however. Eventually, Fries successfully reproduced the easter egg. You can watch the moment of truth in the video below, and read the full account on his blog.


Source: Ed Fries

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