Pay close attention while playing.
There are so many things I love about Friday the 13th: The Game, which all of us here on Bloody have been raving about since its digital release back in May. One of the coolest things about the game is the attention developers Gun Media and Illfonic paid to detail, particularly when it came to recreating the iconic locales from the first, second and third films.
At this time, Camp Crystal Lake, Packanack Lodge and Higgins Haven are available as playable maps, and each of the maps are so dead-on accurate to the way they appeared in the movies that it’s almost eerie. Roaming around those maps is quite literally like being inside of the movies, which is a dream come true for anyone who’s been a longtime fan of the franchise.
The locations are recreated down to tiny details, and the maps are also loaded with fun Easter eggs that you really have to go looking for in order to catch. After playing countless hours of the game, I’m STILL finding little winks and nods to the movies, so I must note that this list isn’t exactly definitive.
Rather, these are merely five of the coolest Easter eggs I’ve found so far.
1) THAT GUY LOOKS FAMILIAR
At the start of every match in Friday the 13th: The Game, we’re treated to a cut-scene wherein a camp counselor is brutally murdered by Jason. This makes the other counselors run away in terror, kick-starting the actual gameplay. But who is Jason’s first victim in every match? He’s the same character every single time, and he’s not an actual playable character in the game.
He is, however, a character from the movies!
As many fans have noticed, that first victim looks a whole lot like Rob Dier, a main character from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (and the brother of Part 2’s Sandra). Just last week on Twitter, co-creator Ronnie Hobbs confirmed that yes, the unlucky NPC is indeed based on actor Erich Anderson’s character from the fourth installment.
To date, Rob Dier and (adult) Tommy Jarvis are the only human characters from the movies that appear in the video game.
On a related note, Rob’s corpse is randomly placed around the map during gameplay!
2) KANE HODDER CAMEO
Not only is Kane Hodder the actor most synonymous with playing Jason (he holds the record, appearing in four Friday the 13th films), but he also reprised his most iconic role for Friday the 13th: The Game. Yes, Hodder provided the motion-capture for every single Jason in the game, which really helps take it to a whole new level of fan service.
What you may not have noticed is that Kane Hodder also appears in the game… as himself. Play around the maps and you might notice a picture of Hodder and a fan up on a cabin wall, which looks to have been taken at a horror convention. We can only assume the person pictured with Hodder is someone connected to the game – and we can also assume that Hodder gave him his trademark choke shortly after the photo was taken!
And that *may* be an actual photograph of a young Betsy “Pamela Voorhees” Palmer next to the hanging image of Hodder, though I haven’t yet been able to confirm it.
3) IT ALL BEGAN IN BLAIRSTOWN
As most hardcore Friday the 13th fans know, the original classic was filmed in New Jersey. Camp NoBeBoSco, now a Boy Scouts Camp that you unfortunately can’t visit, played the role of the fictional Camp Crystal Lake, while much of the outside action was shot in the small town of Blairstown, New Jersey – notably, the opening sequence featuring ill-fated Annie.
Believe it or not, the Blairstown Diner is still around to this very day!
As a special tribute to the town where it all began, Friday the 13th: The Game‘s developers put a Blairstown baseball cap in various places around the maps. So keep your eyes peeled!
4) LOOK CLOSELY AT THE BOOKS
The developers of Friday the 13th: The Game are obviously big fans of sixth installment Jason Lives (aren’t we all?), as that film’s version of Tommy Jarvis (voiced by Thom Mathews!) is a playable character in the game – under certain circumstances, at least. The game also features several less obvious nods to Jason Lives, mostly in the form of two books you’ll find sitting on shelves and tables around the maps.
In Jason Lives, Tommy buys the books A Manual of Occultism (by Sepharial) and 30 Years Among the Dead (by Dr. Carl August Wickland) in an effort to learn how he can stop Jason once and for all. Both books are real, and both are featured in Friday the 13th: The Game.
So too is Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, which a little girl was humorously reading in Jason Lives.
Trust me, these two books are FAR from the only props from the films you’ll find in the game – Teddy’s teddy bear from The Final Chapter even pops up from time to time!
5) CALL SHERIFF GARRIS FOR A GOOD TIME
Many nods to the Friday franchise can be found on the various cabin walls in Friday the 13th: The Game, which are loaded with pictures and props that should look familiar to anyone who’s spent countless hours watching the movies. One of the coolest nods I found was again a call-back to Jason Lives.
On the cork-board seen above is a flyer for Karloff’s, a reference to Karloff’s General Store from the sixth film (itself a tribute to the legendary Boris Karloff), as well as a phone number for Sheriff Garris. Of course, Sheriff Mike Garris is the character played by David Kagen in Jason Lives – he’s the dude who Jason literally folds in half. Ouch.
There is a feature within the game where you can call the police to come rescue you, but Sheriff Garris doesn’t actually appear in it – aside from this fun little homage to the character.
Have you found any Easter eggs that we missed? Let us know so we can find them too!
