My Favourite Gaming April Fools Pranks

April Fools' Day is a wondrous occasion for those who like to feed the little chaos gremlins within their hearts. Be it via pranks, tall tales, or general tomfoolery, these agents of discord often find ingenious ways to pull the wool over our eyes. Now, for one reason or another, it seems game development attracts these conniving geniuses like moths to a flame, so there is no end to false ads, fun events, and poorly judged marketing ploys. As such, I decided to collect a few of them for your reading pleasure!

Listicles have a habit of dragging on a bit — just look at that opening paragraph — so I will be providing the rest of this piece as efficiently as possible… by omitting vowels ntrly.

1. nr Lnd — nthr Crb’s Trsr

mng th mny drry slsliks f rcnt hstry, nthr Crb’s Trsr rlly std t by bng clrfl, hmrs, nd vn hvng chppr prtgnst. Stdo ggr Crb, hwvr, rcvd cmplnts bt ths clsh of gnr nd pltt, csng th dvlprs t, smngly, gv th plyrs wht thy wntd.

Mrktd s nw ftr, Drk Slslik md wld dd drk, dstrtng fltr vr th gm nd vn mke Krll, th plcky hr, lk bttlwrn nd xhstd. T tp t ff, th dvlpr vn ddd th ctl mp of nr Lnd frm DRK SLS t th gm! Ths, f crs, ws clvr pril Fls' rs nd n sch ddts wr md… f nly.

2. Snc s rlly dd, w prms! — Th Mrdr f Snc th Hdghg

Fr lrgr stds, sch s Sny r Nntnd, pril Fls’ s ftn wrttn ff wth fw lw-ffrt twts r n img r tw. Thy mk s lgh (smtms), nd w mv n. If w’r lcky, w my vn s “brnd nw trlr fr gm cmng sn” nd t’ll b smethng lke nchrtd Krt: Gldn  Grl Gg, s whn w wr prsntd wth Th Mrdr f Snc th Hdghg, w lghd s w lwys d nd mvd n… h wht fls w wr.

Cmng t s n ctl frwr rls, th gm ws rll, plybl ttl fr fns t njy. Whl (splrs) th bl flsh nvr ctlly gs t tht bg Chll Dg stnd n th sky, th gm hs vry rl chrm f ts wn. f nthng ls, w cn pprct SG fr pllng fst n n s, pn ntndd.

3. Vrtl By Pr — Nntnd

f y’v bn gmng fr whl, spclly n Nntnd cnsls, th ttrnc f “Vrtl By” my fll yr sl wth ff-rd clrd drd wth n ddd sde f ncmng mgrns. Ys, th prgntr f mdrn Vrtl Rlty tch, th Vrtl By s nfms fr nt qt lvng p t th hyp. s sch, ws dlghtd t s th tncs tm t Nntnd dng thr drndst t rdm ths ft-rdcld cnsl wth th Vrtl By Pr.

Mrktd s Nntndo Swtch ttchmnt f srts, ths hndy dndy dvc wld lt s ll lv t r drm nd nstll r cnsls rght nt r hds, lvng r hds fr t pt cts, gt drnk, r whtvr t s tht w d. Th fnny thng s, tht t f ppl wr xtd b ths nnncmnt! Sr, th nm cld s sm wrkshppng, bt bn bl t s th rltvly ffrdbl Swtch s n d hc VR hdst smd lk grt pln t mny! Hwvr, t ws nt t b nd th vl w lftd n ths clvr prnk sn ngh.

4. Pndrn - Wrcrft

Lst bt nt lst, n f th rr prnks tht trn nt rl prdct by th nd! Th Pndrn rc f Wrcrft s, t ths pnt, stple f th srs. Ths rsn wrrrs r knwn fr thr mstry f mrtl rts, fndnss fr brws, nd rlxd tlk n lf, mking thm stt lls nd fst frnds n nd t f th bttlfld. Hwvr, nt mny ppl knw tht thy strtd ff s n pril Fls’ prnk bck n th ncnt tms f 2002.

Nr th rls f Wrcrft III: Rgn f Chs, th Blzzrd tm dcdd t hv bt f fn wth thr fns nd rls n nnncmnt ntrdcng th “fft plybl rc” t th pcmng RTS, th ttlr Pndrn! Whl ths ws ndd prnk nd nd t th lngtm rt drctr, Smws Ddr, th fn rctn t bth ts nnncmnt nd thr ntncs wr s strng tht n ctl Hr nt rprsntng th pnd ppl ws ddd n th Wrcrft III: Th Frzn Thrn xpnsn.

Thr y hv t! fw f my bslt fvrit prnk n gmng, dlvrd wth th tmst f ffcncy. D y hve any favourites we missed? If so, let us know in the comments and have a happy April Fools’ Day!