Danny Chadwick
The HBO adaptation of the popular video game The Last of Us premiered on January 15th to both critical and audience acclaim. Today, if you search the title of the game/series, you’ll get a fun easter egg that simulates growing cordyceps filling the screen.
When you Google “The Last of Us,” you’re greeted with regular search results. The first thing that pops up on the desktop version is information about the show and its cast. The top results on the Google mobile app are some shopping options for the 2013 game. However, in both results, you’ll see a little red circle with a mushroom in the center. Tap it once, and some animated fungi will pop up from the bottom of the screen.
It’s a fun little gag, but the button doesn’t disappear after the first tap. Hit it again, and more digital fungus grows out of the sides of your display. One more tap and it comes out of the top. You can tap as many times as you want until your search results are entirely filled with the oozing mushrooms from the game.
I stopped counting how many times more oozing goo grew into my screen at 20 taps and gave up after another dozen or so times. So, there may or may not be any end to how much you can grow. Another fun thing about this easter egg is that you can share it with friends. Right next to the mushroom button is a share icon that lets you send the search results to your The Last of Us fan club.
