SpiderMan 2s adorable Easter egg reminds us to play indie games

Someone at Insomniac really loves hardcore mobile games

If you put books, games, or DVD boxes inside your video game, I will inspect every last one of them. This and video game bathrooms are my particular peccadillo and I would appreciate it if you don’t judge me.

Usually, using photo mode to get a close-up gander at a bookshelf or a messy desk reveals the work of a very exhausted game writer or staffer who needed to fill out a spreadsheet before clocking out for the weekend. Books like “Biology: A Science” and movies like “Bad War 3.” As a writer immensely familiar with deadlines and creative roadblocks, I have a fondness for these.

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

But I cherish when a writer or other team member — hopefully at a studio that has the funds to afford this degree of detail — uses these tiny, overlooked bits of set dressing to fit in something special for themselves. Someone working on Spider-Man 2 did just that.

Early in the game, we get a look at Peter Parker’s home, which he’s been bequeathed from Aunt May. Alongside a messy kitchen and a laughably specific mortgage bill, the player can find on Peter’s table a copy of a video game: Speed Nonagon.

Image: Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

The fictional game appears to be a warmhearted nod to indie dev Terry Cavanagh’s masterpiece, Super Hexagon — which you can buy on Steam, iOS, and Android for only $2.99. Along with the similar title, both games share a nearly identical, all-caps font. And the safety vest orange cover of Speed Nonagon resembles Super Hexagon’s.

It’s a small thing, but it’s part of something bigger: little details like this remind us that games are made by people and part of a continuity, each piece of art building off what came before it. Plus, I get to feel vindicated for spending so much time looking at video game boxes, which doesn’t hurt.

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