THE FINALS Easter Egg Hunt (TFEE) is a long form Easter egg hunt ongoing since September 2022. It spans multiple levels and covers both external and in-game elements. The hunt is led by Embark Studios' Chief Content Officer and Co-founder, Robert Runesson, and assisted by Dusty Gustafsson, Embark's CX Lead.
The hunt began in September 2022, when a series of cryptic Easter egg clues started appearing in concept art released via the official THE FINALS Twitter account, and later the official THE FINALS Discord server. This initial Easter egg became known as Level 1 - The Commence, and was followed by Level 2 - The Promise and Level 3 - The Hunt. Clues are generally presented via official artwork and renders, in-game Easter eggs, and messages from Rob and Dusty. The hunt itself operates via the official THE FINALS website, with several hidden URLs pointing to clues, images, and password inputs.
Remember to follow the rules and practice good hunting etiquette!Overview
Guidance
Rules & Etiquette
- Trying to brute force or break your way into password-protected webpages is not allowed as it can completely ruin the hunt for everyone involved.
- Using AI programs such as ChatGPT to decode content or figure out connections, passwords, etc, is not allowed as it can similarly spoil the hunt.
- The hunt is not about trying to bypass website or game security. All clues and Easter eggs are accessible by normal means. Do not share datamined content or try to exploit the game or Embark Studios' websites in any way.
- The hunt does not require the usage of glitches/exploits/out-of-bounds exploration. In-game Easter eggs may be obtuse to find, but they do not require breaking the game.
- Hunt-related URLs can be found via clues. Do not try to discover hidden URLs on Embark Studios' websites by exploitative or unintended means.
- The metadata of images does not contain intentional clues, and so does not need to be accessed; Photoshop file history, layer names, etc.
If you're unsure about whether you might be close to breaking a rule, just ask!
Rob's Helpful Hints
- '"Hi.! You are correct… Only look for clues in assets that we release in our channels where we can control naming, compression etc… don’t want you to fall down the wrong rabbit holes… ._."
- "No we will never trick you (and you are too clever to be tricked). But it shouldn't be easy to solve puzzles like this... ._.
- "Hi.! All passwords are lowercase… ._."
- "Was going to comment on the discussion about 'password vs passcode'... I remember that discussion back on the Amiga BBS-era... so as long as it is in ASCII, it is a password, regardless if it is letters or numbers... ._. (but all passWORDS are lowercase regardless if it is letters, numbers or any other characters in the ASCII-table, hehe)"
- "Hi.! Yes you CAN solve every EE (and level) with the first image, but, it’s hard… but the answer is there.! For every new image (or dusty text, hehe) we give you it becomes easier, and easier, and easier to solve each level… BTW you were actually really close already with the first image, I first thought TIER 1B was way too easy since you kind of mentioned the actual password (or is it a passcode @Giriko .?!) buuut then for some reason it went south… ._."
- "Short answer is 'No, the images released during one level/tier are used to solve that level/tier'. However that said, there might be (and often are) clues and hints that potentially can (or will) be very useful (or obvious when you see the full picture in the end (or is it really the end, or perhaps just a new beginning))..."
- "Everything is connected, but it's not THAT obvious... ._."
- "Great puzzles need to be deep and complex to be fun and challenging, for this little EE-hunt there are always at least 4-5 connections between different clues on each level and often also multiple connections between both tiers and levels. That way the web becomes an intricate aventure, a beautiful painting and a puzzle that is much more satisfying to solve... after all don't we all want to honor Archimedes.?1"
- "No, I’m only use standard ASCII, actually to keep the password very easy to figure out, I’ve made sure to only use lower case letters and numbers, for this level [Level Two] that is… ._."
- "No spaces in psw in this ee-hunt… ._."