Half-Life: Alyx is full of many little details that it’s hard to keep track of them. That extends to the game’s Easter Eggs, and there are plenty to discover in Valve’s prequel title. Half-Life fans can expect to see callbacks to other games in the franchise, but there are other Easter Eggs that give a subtle nod to non-Valve titles too.
Our Half-Life: Alyx Easter Egg guide is here to show you the best or most unusual ones around. Strap in and let’s go hunting.
0451 code
Let’s start off with an Easter Egg that isn’t Half-Life related. The 0451 code has become an in-joke within the industry, with multiple developers and studios using it as the keycode needed to solve the first puzzle in their titles.
It’s appeared in games including Deus Ex, Bioshock, Gone Home, and Firewatch. Unfortunately, it has no purpose in Half-Life: Alyx. Once you reach the Northern Star hotel, however, you can spot it on a windowsill.
Death Stranding
Another secret unrelated to Half-Life but a cool one nonetheless. During Chapter 8, you might have spotted a familiar-looking crate while looking around a storage room.
On top of a couple of cardboard boxes you’ll see a dark gray colored one. It’s covered in yellow tape and has ‘Bridges’ inscribed on it — a clear nod to Death Stranding‘s protagonist Sam Bridges.
Death Stranding is getting some Half-Life crossover content when its PC port is released in June. This, then, is a fun little primer to that.
Dog redesigns
Everyone who played Half-Life 2 will know who Dog is. Alyx’s trusty robot companion is a key character during certain sections of the game, and you even get to play basketball with him early on in Half-Life 2.
It’s a nice throwback to see this Half-Life: Alyx Easter Egg at the start of the game then. Look around Alyx’s room after you leave the balcony and you’ll find sketches of Dog upgrades, as well as a photograph of one of his earliest forms. What a good boy.
Dr. Isaac Kleiner’s book
As soon as the game begins, you can unearth a book written by a Half-Life 2 NPC. Dr. Isaac Kleiner’s book, From Here to There in Under a Second, can be found on the balcony that you start on. Kleiner plays a role in the Resistance during Half-Life 2‘s events and was a Black Mesa researcher before the events of Half-Life.
Dr. Wallace Breen appearances
A figure who every Half-Life fan knows all too well. Dr. Wallace Breen was the individual responsible for enslaving humanity by making a deal with the Combine to end the Seven Hour War. He goes on to become Interim Administrator and Earth’s ruler, but only as a puppet to the Combine.
You can spot some news on Dr. Breen during your travels. A newspaper, left on a City 17 park bench, has an article about him on its front page. Later on, in Russell’s lab, you’ll find a magazine with Dr. Breen plastered across its front page.
Gnome Chompski
Remember that fun secret achievement in Half-Life 2: Episode 2? You could pick up a garden gnome early on and carry to the end of this expansion. If you did, and fired him into space in a rocket, you’d get an achievement for doing so.
Well, the gnome’s back. In Russell’s lab, head to his fridge and you’ll see the gnome as a bottle opener magnet. There’s no confirmation that carrying this little due to the game’s end will give you a secret achievement here, but we live in hope.
Portal Incinerator
This Half-Life: Alyx Easter Egg can be found in Russell’s lab. If you check out the CRT screen on the right-hand side of the room, you can look at how much work has gone into making your Gravity Gloves.
Look in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, though, and you’ll spot a cool Portal Easter Egg. Russell’s recycling bin is called ‘Incinerator’—a callback to that horrible moment in Portal where you have to destroy your Companion Cube. We’re still not over that.
Portal turret graffiti
If the Incinerator Easter Egg was hard to spot, this is even more of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it one.
As you head outside to engage in your first battle with the Combine in Chapter 3, you can spot a Portal turret on a concrete pillar with a heart inside a speech bubble. Those little guys were a nuisance in the Portal franchise, but you can’t help but love them anyway.
Snark pet
Another Half-Life reference is found in Alyx’s room. This Half-Life: Alyx Easter Egg is a Snark, which are explosive beetles found on Xen in the original game. Look for a jar with a glowing green light to find it. You can feed it too, if you’ve got the time.
Team Fortress 2 Scout figurine
Another one found in Russell’s lab. You’ll find a bobblehead of the Scout from Team Fortress 2 lying around. If you use it as a waypoint marker, when Russell is showing you how to get to the train yard, you’ll earn yourself a Steam achievement.
