Everyone loves an Easter egg. Delivering the weirdest, wackiest and most awesomely unexpected treats, they’re like little gift wrapped pressies tucked under the Christmas tree of your favourite game.

Yet such is their hidden nature, they’re very easy to miss. So in the interest of convenience, we’ve collected a load of them below. put them in ascending order and crowned a gloriously crazy winner. What's more, we've given you all the info you need to chase them down for yourself too. We're nice like that.

So pull up a chair, get yourself comfortable, and prepare for ROFLs, WTFs and a smattering of OMGs. It’s our Top Five Easter Eggs of 2012!

In the original Call of Duty: Black Ops version of Nuketown, if you headhsot all of the map’s mannequins within a short amount of time, you’d be treated with a full rendition of Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. It was kinda cool. The Easter egg in Black Ops II's Nuketown 2025 is far better.

Now if you shoot each of the mannequins' heads off you're able to access some crusty old Activision Atari games on the map's screen (and be invulnerable while you do it!). Sweet.

It doesn’t get more festive than a nice plump turkey on the table for Christmas dinner. Yet while thousands, no millions of the ugly buggers will be slaughtered, roasted, sliced and gobbled down next week, this particular fowl - from Assassin's Creed III -  is more likely to be the one doing the carving. On your face!

Don’t mess with AC III's Assassin Turkey!

Not content with including one Kane & Lynch Easter egg in Hitman: Absolution, IO Interactive went and stuffed a whole bunch of ‘em in. It’s overflowing with references and appearances from gaming’s grubbiest duo, from bar brawls to gnome fights, regretful letters and the end of the world. Watch them all below.

Some Easter eggs are fleeting, offering cool little moments that last a few seconds, put a smile on your face and then disappear forever. Borderlands 2’s Minecraft Easter egg, meanwhile, adds a whole hidden section to the game tucked away discretely in the Caustic Caverns. This is an Easter egg prepared with real love for the subject matter.

Check out the vid below to see exactly what we mean, but watch out, you might bump into a Badass Creeper.

Hitman: Absolution is this year’s king of the Easter eggs. Not only did it scoop third place with a themed colection of hidden Kane & Lynch appearances, it’s also taken the top spot with what has to be one of the most bonkers things we’ve seen in a while.

If you can sit through our editor Dan’s ham-fisted attempts at shooting down vultures (he was probably hung-over), then you’ll be rewarded with the winner of our coveted Best Easter Egg of 2012 award! It's a doozy. Merry Christmas!