In a pleasant surprise that’s thrilled players, a secretive minigame in Insomniac Games’ giant title Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has finally appeared, four years after it initially surfaced. The erstwhile forgotten Easter egg that was lovingly inserted deep inside the gargantuan world of the game is a reflection of the dedication of its developers and depth of content of modern games.
The Ratchet & Clank secret Easter Egg was unraveled by Grant Parker, Senior Designer at Insomniac Games, during a recent Twitch stream commemorating the fourth anniversary of the game. A developer’s admission on commission to make it adds substance to its revelation in the shape of a new feature, unveiling an insight into the process engaged which typically forms interesting, but invisible, elements.
Any Ratchet & Clank player interested in doing this illegal thing must travel to Zurkie’s, the busy tavern located in the Scarstu Debris Field. It is a case of a certain set of movements in order to trigger the minigame: firing the “No Weapons” sign on the left side of the doorway five times, then the one on the right four times, and another thirteen times on the one on the left side. After the player has successfully accomplished this intricate input, he is then requested to ride the mechanical bull with the player in the arena.
The minigame itself is a beta version where players attempt to balance on the mechanical bull by using an analog stick to maintain a cursor within a specific safe area. Its unpresentable state, its lack of finished assets, all but guarantees that it was content that didn’t quite pass the cut of the game. In its unrefined form, its very presence is a testament to Insomniac’s commitment to delivering a higher player experience, even from content meant for internal use. The discovery of a so seemingly unheralded aspect years after the release does not just energize the followers but also heightens freshly anticipated expectations toward the continued legacy of the Ratchet & Clank series.
