Google hides more than its share of Easter eggs in its software. Whether it’s Google Maps or the search engine, you can always find a few hidden gems. Hangouts is no different. If you enter the right text, you can get some seriously entertaining extras in your chat (some of which make the same appearance on the other side of the chat window).

Use these tips to take your Hangouts conversations to the next level.

Herds of Little Ponies

It looks like someone at Google is a My Little Pony fan. Type /ponies in a chat in Hangouts and an animated pony in the style of the popular cartoon trots across the bottom of the window. There are several ponies, so entering the command multiple times displays a different one at random each time.

Then, as if one pony couldn’t possibly be enough, type /ponystream to see a whole herd of ponies. Ponies pour in from both sides of the screen in a continuous stream, and they won’t stop until you enter the command a second time.

A Shy Dinosaur

This one’s a little odd. Type /shydino into a chat, and a tiny house pops up at the bottom of the window. Then, a small dinosaur-looking character slides out from the side of the chat window and hides behind it. The dino stays there until you enter the command again.

Send an Angry Mob Complete With Torches and Pitchforks

Did the person you’re chatting with say something particularly frustrating or annoying? Type /pitchforks to really get across how much you disagree. An animated angry crowd with torches and pitchforks emerges from the side of the window and charges across as if they just got a hot tip that Frankenstein’s monster was spotted on the other side.

Add a Little Color

Tired of the bland off-white chat window? Type /bikeshed to change the background color of the window at random. Enter the command as many times as you like to get new ones. This command changes the background for the people you’re chatting with, too, so you can really confuse someone who isn’t aware of it.

The Konami Code

If you were a gamer in the 90s, you know exactly what this one is. The Konami Code was a popular button combination that would unlock any number of hidden things in games made by Konami. In the years since, the Konami Code has been a popular inclusion for Easter eggs among programmers, Google included.

Enter the Konami Code in Hangouts using the arrow keys on the keyboard and press Enter to change the background of the chat window into a nice landscape scene.

The Konami Code is: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, B, A, then press Enter.

Get Creative With Your Text

Before the fully illustrated emojis of today, there were simple ASCII ones, like :). Emojis have become more complicated over the years, with well-known examples like the shrug and table flip.

Google clearly understood the value in not having to type or copy-and-paste these emojis every time, so it included many of them as commands. Google even added a few using graphical emojis as well.

Here’s a sample of the emoji commands:

  • /tableflip/facepalm/shruggie/dealwithit/success/happy/shame/puppyparty/lit/flowerbeam/wizardV.v.V

Your Chat Needs More Corgis

Corgis are awesome, and they’re pretty great in Google Hangouts too. Type /corgis to see an animated corgi stroll across the bottom of the screen. The person you’re chatting with will see your little canine friend as well, so this one is a nice way to send a little surprise.

Roll for It

Some of the programmers at Google like Dungeons & Dragons, and because of them, you can roll a twenty-sided die in a Hangouts chat. In reality, you can roll just about any type or combination of dice.

Start by trying a regular six-sided die. Type /roll into the chat. A message opens for both you and the people you’re chatting with that lets everyone know that you rolled and what the result was.

You can get more creative, too. Use /roll3d6 to simulate rolling three six-sided dice. Just like before, you’ll see the result in chat.

To roll a twenty-sided die, type /roll1d20. It’ll work just like you’d expect. This does get kind of weird at a point, though. It looks like Google didn’t restrict the dice to physically possible types of dice. Roll /roll1d3. It still works.

You

This one might not be useful when talking with one other person unless you like referring to yourself in the third person. Type /me in the chat to display your name in the chat. When you’re chatting with a group, it can be easy to lose track of who is saying what. Using /me helps people know, at a glance, when you’re the one talking.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day