Originally, when coding Chinese Zodiac Animal Race video game, I wanted to add secrets to the game, because I've always loved finding hidden objects or unlockable items in the games I played. My goal was to make all the animals you see at the title screen -- Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, etc -- unlockable images that you do not see until you complete a mission, e.g. beating the game with 10,000 stones or betting on the monkey when he turns another animal into a banana.

I found this was pointless for 2 reasons.

1. I was taking away a key feature of the game -- the scrolling chinese zodiac traits and animals -- on the title screen, effectively taking away some of the beauty of the game _in exchange_ for a player challenge. Were these challenges even worth accomplishing/accumulating? Not really. They were mostly random objectives that happen naturally to the player over time.

2. Secrets in games are better _not forced_ by the designer. They should occur naturally. A better concept for a secret in a game about the Chinese Zodiac I've found would be a simple fortune cookie, hidden amongst the reeds of the game. Such a secret is not obtrusive to the art of the game, but rather provides the player a fun discovery that they may return to time and time again to read their latest fortune.

I have since scrapped the first idea, but I won't tell you where to find the cookie. You'll have to play for yourself! But yeah, the lesson here is, less is more when it comes to secrets, and secrets should unfold naturally by the player's progression.