Top 10 Hidden Secrets in GTA

Rockstar crafts some truly incredible game worlds, but they’re even more complex than most people realize. Welcome to Watchmojo, and these are the Grand Theft Auto Secrets You Were Never Meant to See.



For this list, we’re looking at some of the strangest, most peculiar and hardest-to-find secrets in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)



Our first entry is a GTA III classic. One of Liberty City's level designers at Rockstar clearly knew that players would find a way to access this inaccessible spot and left a sassy little note behind. The sign reads “You werent [sic] supposed to be able to get here you know”. Most of the time, when accessing a closed off area or finding a cool easter-egg players feel success or wonder, but this sign feels almost eerie, as if you're either being watched, or pulled along by fate. There are a lot more strange things in GTA III but this one is definitely the biggest mind bender.

“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)



For all that can be explored and messed with in the game world of “Grand Theft Auto III”, there’s one locale that remains somewhat enigmatic: the site of the game’s opening moments. Constructed specifically for the bank robbery sequence that sets in motion the game’s events, this small portion of Liberty City was hidden away in a lonely corner of the game map. Eventually being discovered by dedicated players, this stretch of street was found to be mostly incorporeal, lacking in solid objects. Only with the use of game modifications is this so-called Ghost Town able to be explored in full, and even then it’s a bizarre spectacle.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)



Given the hectic nature of how the game starts, it’s not a surprise that folks missed some throwaway details until after the fact. The prologue to “Grand Theft Auto V” does, after all, expect the player to keep Michael Townley and company moving towards escape. However, those that opted to diverge from the mission path and instead drive onto a frozen river found a most unusual sight waiting for them. Beneath the icy surface rests what is unmistakably an extra-terrestrial corpse, looking like a blend of a stereotypical grey alien and the Xenomorph from the “Alien” franchise. Why this is here, and what it says about the world of “Grand Theft Auto”, remains a mystery.

“Grand Theft Auto IV” (2008)



During the development of a video game, areas and assets are created to provide the team with a space in which to experiment and tinker. Such game areas are never intended for players to be able to access. But sure enough, with “Grand Theft Auto IV” players found a way into pair of test maps not accessible under normal circumstances. Titled ‘CJ_Test’ and ‘Animviewer’ respectively, these maps are littered with a wide assortment of objects

“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)



Rockstar sure does love to tease alien conspiracies. Players committed to the task of completing “Grand Theft Auto V” in its entirety may be surprised to learn that one of the rewards for this accomplishment pertains to the appearance of UFOs. Specifically, several saucer-shaped vessels begin to crop up across the state of San Andreas – above Mount Chiliad, out in the desert, even high above a military base. Of course, anyone who’d ventured under the water near North Point would have been tipped off in advance, for there lies a crashed ship of similar design.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)



The dead most definitely aren’t at peace in San Andreas. Be it in single-player or in online play, climbing to the peak of Mount Gordo is quite the impressive endeavor. What makes it especially satisfying, if also unsettling, is reaching the peak between 11pm and midnight. Do this and you’re greeted with the ethereal visage of a woman in white, her eyes and face bleeding. As it turns out, this woman was Jolene Cranley-Evans, a character with her own in-universe backstory and tragic demise. For fans of supernatural phenomena and unresolved true crime tales, this is one for the books.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)



Introduced as part of the enhanced version of “Grand Theft Auto V”, Peyote Plants serve as an unexpected injection of surreal fantasy into an otherwise quasi-realistic setting. These plants cause the player’s character to transform – or perhaps hallucinate themselves transforming – into a wide array of animals. However, the most unique shape-change is saved for the special Golden Peyote Plants, found only after 100% Completion and under certain weather conditions. Consuming these put the player in the infamous furry feat of Bigfoot, complete with a whole separate set of encounters and the chance to unlock playable creatures for Director Mode.

“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002)



Even for this particular series, this feels rather on the nose. Venturing out into the downtown portion of Vice City, a determined player can eventually find their way onto the helipad atop the Vice City News Building. Nothing seems immediately out of the ordinary about the adjacent building – unless you choose to take a leap of faith through the hollow wall. Behind this facade rests a most peculiar sight: a large chocolate Easter egg on a white pedestal. Apart from being a quaint curiosity, there’s little about this room that clarifies the motive behind this secret’s inclusion in the game. But hey, sometimes an easter egg is just an easter egg.

“Grand Theft Auto III” (2001)



Who ever said randomly firing a sniper rifle at the sky didn’t have its merits? Okay, most people would likely agree with that assertion, but in this very unique, and very unrealistic case, it’s actually somewhat justified. Over the course of your time in “Grand Theft Auto III”, a player can obtain sniper rifles as part of their larger inventory of deadly firearms. While certainly useful in the conventional sense, it’s possible to get wilder with how one utilizes the rifle’s precision and ability to shoot over long distances... like taking pot shots at the moon. This causes the moon to shrink or grow in size depending on how many shots are fired at it.

“Grand Theft Auto IV” (2008)

Obscure lore can’t begin to account for this heap of weirdness. In one’s gallivanting across Liberty City as the downtrodden ex-soldier Niko Bellic, a curious player might find their attention drawn to the game’s version of the real-world Statue of Liberty. Here referred to as the Statue of Happiness, the grand structure depicts a figure that looks awfully similar to Secretary of State-turned-Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. Fascinating enough as a nod to a real political figure, the Statue offers more in the way of intrigue should one manage to reach the ladder leading into the structure itself. Within beats a massive heart, resistant to damage and chained in place for reasons unknown.