Mobile role-playing game Star Trek Timelines doesn't seem like the type of game that would have a lot of hidden content, but it has a pretty significant and well-hidden item. The iconic Ktarian Headset is hidden within the game, but you can find it if you know where to look.Not familiar with the Ktarian Headset? It's never been a huge part of Star Trek lore, but it is a fun bit of history for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That's why one of the devs hid it in the game as an Easter Egg for fans to find.
The Easter Egg was brought up in an ongoing Twitter thread over Easter, but it's been known to fans for years. Joey Lapegna, who worked on Star Trek Timelines, as well as iconic mobile games like The Walking Dead: March to War and Archer: Danger Phone, mentioned the Easter Egg and its somewhat convoluted method of finding it.
The Headset itself is a reference to "The Game," a popular fifth-season episode of TNG. In "The Game," Commander Riker is on shore leave on the pleasure planet Risa when a Ktarian woman introduces him to a headset that is part of a popular Ktarian game, wherein one must fling orange discs into blue vortices. However, the Headset was actually part of a mind-control plot. Upon scoring in the game, it would stimulate the brain's pleasure center, resulting in addiction and driving the addicted to pass the game on to others. Riker would take the Headset back to the Enterprise, where it would slowly consume the crew. However, Wesley Crusher and Lt. Commander Data's quick thinking was able to reverse the effects of the game's hold, with the Enterprise taking the Ktarians into custody.
It's a lot easier to find the Ktarian Headset in Timelines now than it was at first. Originally, you needed a crew that included Ensign Wesley Crusher, Ensign Robin Lefler and Commander William T. Riker. They couldn't just be their base forms, though; they've got to be Immortalized. In Timelines, Immortalized is just a term for a maxed-out character; in this instance, they'll be Level 100, Fully Fused and Fully Equipped. They also had to be assigned to the Enterprise NCC-1701-D from The Next Generation.
The crew and ship requirements are dropped in the game now, but the steps are still the same. You'll head out to Risa and scan the planet repeatedly. Eventually, the Ktarian Headset will be found as a piece of salvage. It can take a while, but the headset will appear with repeated scans.
From there, players have the option to enjoy the game itself. Just go into your inventory and examine the Headset, which will launch the game. It also has an AR feature, so it can be played with the background replaced by whatever the phone's back camera sees at the time. Just don't get too addicted to the game; the rest of the galaxy needs to be saved, after all.
Developed by Disruptor Beam and published by Disruptor Beam and Tilting Point, Star Trek Timelines is available on iOS, Android and PC via Facebook.