The story of the Adventure secret room has been told and re-told many times, and the handwritten letter from fifteen-year-old Adam Clayton is a part of gaming history
That secret room, which held game creator Warren Robinett’s signature, is credited with being the first Easter Egg ever released in a console video game. The term Easter Egg didn’t even exist when Robinett decided to hide his name in the game because Atari policy was to not publicly credit developers for their work.
Adam Clayton shared his discovery with Atari in a hand-written letter.
An Atari employee named Steve Wright is believed to have come up with the label Easter Egg when, after Robinett’s secret message was discovered, that hiding things in games was a positive because they were “like Easter eggs for players to find.” Hiding Easter Eggs became common practice at Atari and across the industry.
But why did the young Atari developer hide his name in a secret room? In his own words, “I was pissed.” Who better to explain the story behind the secret room than Warren Robinett himself. Many thanks to filmmaker Peter Mishara for allowing us to repost and share his short film about Adventure, including an interview with Warren Robinett telling the story behind the very first action-adventure game.
Peter Mishara captures the story behind the magical Adventure Easter Egg.