Overview
In early September 2022, after the Gamescom teaser trailer for THE FINALS was released (late August 2022), a series of related cryptic Easter egg clues started to be presented through concept art released via THE FINALS Twitter account. Several additional clues to help the community solve the puzzles were also posted exclusively on THE FINALS Discord. The initial Easter eggs (which, following it being solved, became known as Level 1 or 'The Geocache Easter Egg') indirectly prompted members of the community to add specific words to THE FINALS website URL, as a suffix, which was a way of providing answers to the puzzle to see if they were correct. From Level 2 of the Easter Eggs ('The Promise') onwards, prospective answers were input as passwords via a specific password page created by the Embark Studios art team, led by Embark's Chief Content Officer and Co-founder, Rob Runesson.
Level 1 - 'The C0mmence' - A History Of Solving The Easter Egg
Overview
This level debuted on Sept. 5, 2022 and was solved on Sept. 16, 2022; 11 days later. The overarching theme was Geocaching and all of the clues therein were related. For more information you can visit the master document section here:
Clues
- The source tweet, released Sep 5, 2022 consisted of concept art of a samurai, and hidden within the image was binary code laid out using two columns of pips to represent the 8 bytes of binary. Once translated 2 words were discovered: devon and crossing.
- If you attempted to visit a webpage on the official website [link] done by appending a forward slash to the beginning of the words (e.g /devoncrossing) the webpage would display a large, red X, indicating that this was not the correct webpage.
- Two images were uploaded to THE FINALS Discord server on Sep 8, 2022, and another on Sep 9, 2022 Using various Steganographic techniques two clues were found. The first image contained, among various bits of data, Galileo’s birthdate [Feb 15, 1564,] however, the numbers were unformatted and therefore not immediately interpretable. The second image uploaded, contained the number 8601, referencing the date/time standard ISO 8601. Using this standard the data was confirmed to be Galileo’s birthdate.
- On Sep 13, 2022 An image was uploaded showing a modern depiction of a ninja jumping over a soldier while a collection of metal 58 gallon (approx.) barrels falling overtop of them. On one of the barrels pictured 002f is visible. This is unicode for the / character. This was another nudge that the correct answer would be a webpage on the main game website.
- On Sep 15, 2022 an image showing Nama Tama, the Finals Mascot, holding a can of beans was uploaded. On the can of beans the text OG BEANS was prominently displayed. Soon after it was found that the first Geocache had a can of beans in it. Going to https://www.reachthefinals.com/geocache lead to a congratulatory image, and the end of the first level of TFEE.
Summary
The first clue, Devon Crossing, tied into the start of Letterboxing, a precursor to Geocaching. The first letterboxing site was in Devon, England.
The second clue, Galileo, tied into the Galileo satellite system, launched in 2010 by the EU as an alternative for using American GPS systems. This tied into the overall theme of Geocaching with GPS.
The third clue was confirming that the answer to this level would be a subpage to the main page.
The fourth and final clue, the OG BEANS, was that the first modern geocache had a can of beans in it.
In total this level took 11 days to solve.
Credits
Solver - Duh
Documentation - Giriko, Flex4d, RockhoundBlack
Various Contributions - ATAEGGYU, Darnoux, Dwarf, Madalin, Mike Eggmantraut, Oli, Sparky, Swa
Further Reading
RockhoundBlack's Video: THE FINALS: The 'Geocache' Easter Egg!
- Level One: The Commence Images
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Dots and exclamation marks in the Tweet text that accompanied the first Easter Egg concept image were used to produce a binary number that represents a forward slash. -
This image, titled 'Slash,' was the first in a series of images that included hidden Easter Egg-style messages, which began the main series of pre-release Easter Eggs. -
Binary code representing the word "crossing" was found in the Samurai image. -
The red cross on the Devon Crossing page of THE FINALS website when "devoncrossing" was added as a URL extension to the website address. -
Character statues wallpaper with the numbers shown where they were located. -
A concept art image that included a mysterious can of beans attached to the back of one of the characters. -
A rendered image of THE FINALS mascot, Nama Tama, holding the OG Can of Beans so that it could be more easily seen by members of THE FINALS Discord community. -
THE FINALS website showing the successful completion of the "geocache" easter egg
Level 2: 'The Promise' - A History Of Solving The Easter Egg
Tier 1A: The "1064 Aethusa" puzzle
Overview
Level Two: The Promise was originally teased on October 2nd with a fragment of a QR code and a loading page that the QR directed to; however, it didn't go live until October 4th when the TFEE_Level2 site was updated.
Clues
On Oct 6, 2022 Dusty posted a new image titled, Oriri ex cinere, which depicted a man in iron working gear holding a revolver in a garage which is on fire. A couple minutes later Dusty posted another version of it. Comparing the two versions of it revealed a hidden Griffin, the Pisa Griffin specifically. The Pisa Griffin was placed at the Pisa Cathedral, which started construction in 1063, or 1064 in the Pisan calendar.
On Oct 7, 2022 Dusty posted another image titled, TakeCover, which depicted the Cathedral in the map Monaco, getting obliterated by a meteor shower. The day afterwards a slightly larger version was posted to the Press Google Drive, presumably to make it easier to find the clues hidden within:
- The greek letters Αἵ θου σα were found, these translate out to Aethusa
- Aethusa flowers were present in the image.
- The trident referencing Poseden’s daughter, Aethousa.
On Oct 11, 2022 Rob posted a new image titled, friend_you_need_02, which depicted Nama Tama dressed as Galielo looking at an asteroid with a telescope. This led us to 1064 Aethusa, an asteroid in the inner asteroid belt. Putting 1064 into the T1A page unlocked a new image.
Summary
The first clue, the Pisa Griffin, pointed to the year 1064, which would be important to seeing the asteriod was relevant to the search.
The second clue(s) all were about Aethousa and meteors, letting us know that Aethusa and Meteors might be relevant to the search.
The third clue was the telescope looking at a asteriod, which lead us to 1064.
Credits
Solver - Serpenger
Documentation - Flex4d ,Ralliden, RockhoundBlack
Various Contributions - Buunuu, Darnoux, DashGames, Duh, Fishxw, Giriko, OrpheusHEI, SPEAR, Swa, Tragic
Further Reading:
RockhoundBlack's Video: THE FINALS: A Fistful Of Easter Eggs + New Concept Art!