16 secret Lost references in videogames

Cryptic symbols and hidden eggs are fun, but not nearly obvious enough for this 2009 superhero MMO. Play past the tutorial and you'll be sent to a frigid wasteland (aka, Canada) to rescue a group of plane crash survivors being attacked by ice demons. The name of this mission? "The Ordeal of Oceanica 408." Your contact? "JJ Shepard," who dresses just like the protagonist of Lost, Jack Shephard, and whose name is a combination of that character and Lost's creator, J.J. Abrams.

Want more obvious? Two of the passengers you rescue are called Furley and John. Here's John:

Lost in... Call of Duty: World at War

Don't stare at that image for clues. This uber creepy Lost reference can only be heard. Load up Verruckt – part of the game's first DLC map pack – and wade through several waves of Nazi Zombies until you reach the power generator room with the severed hand on the switch. Survive long enough in this area and you might catch a demonic voice reading off Lost's numbers, then resetting the hatch computer's counter. It took us a few frustrating tries, so maybe just listen to our video below instead:

Lost in… Sam & Max: Moai Better Blues

Play the second episode of Sam & Max's second season and you should see this Lost reference coming from a thousand miles away. The dog detective and his rabbit sidekick are sucked into a vortex and dropped on a tropical island with talking statues, underwater chimps and the infant versions of famously "lost" celebrities like Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa. Naturally, when you find the wreckage of an airplane on this island, there's a familiar hatch door with familiar numbers nearby.

Sam and Max, of course, can't resist some wink-winking and nudge-nudging here. Watch the video below for their sly jokes at Lost's expense:

Lost in… Skate

What's the best way to spice up a loading screen, that dull and repetitive piece of real estate that gamers quickly learn to dread? Give us a little something to discover and decipher, like this time code from the video-themed load menus of Skate. Remove the "M," separate those digits correctly and… you see? You see what they did there?

Charlie Barratt
I enjoy sunshine, the company of kittens and turning frowns upside down. I am also a fan of sarcasm. Let's be friends!