Every year, April 1st comes and goes, making us question everything we read or hear because it might just be an April Fools Day prank. However, some games take it to another level and release the whole April Fools Updates or game mode just for this one special, zany occasion. This year was no exception. Whether it be a potato-themed dimension or a large demon chasing small survivors, here are some of the best April Fools Updates of 2024.

Minecraft

Surprisingly, Minecraft always has a new and unique update specifically for April Fools Day. This year was no different with the 24w14a Snapshot for Java Minecraft which focused on what is considered Minecraft’s most useless item: the poisonous potato.

This item is a food item that has a chance of poisoning the player if consumed. They can be obtained by finding them in a shipwreck, harvesting potatoes (which have a 2% chance of dropping poisonous potatoes), or by killing a zombie. Other than potentially poisoning you, the poisonous potato has no other “benefits”. With the 24w14a update, there is now an entire dimension and set of items dedicated to the poisonous potato.

“Mojang Studio is proud to release our most well-boiled update to date that will add so much usability to the poisonous potato that even tater-haters will become devoted spud-dubs,” Mojang said in an announcement article for the update.

The Poisonous Potato dimension can be accessed through a special potato portal created when placing a poisonous potato on a naturally spawning pedestal that can be located in villages. From there, the loot and creatures of the Poisonous Potato dimension are ripe for the picking in five brand new “spud-tactic” biomes: fields, hash, arboretum, corruption, and wasteland. Some special items to be on the lookout for in this update are the frying pan, “Floatato” blocks, and the lashing potato which is essentially a grappling hook.

All of these items and more can be accessed by both Java and Bedrock Minecraft players. Java clients simply have to download the 24w14a snapshot in the “installations” tab of the Minecraft launcher and hit play. Bedrock users will have to download Jibarbov’s Poisonous Potato add-on from the Minecraft Marketplace.

Overwatch

Blizzard’s Overwatch is constantly receiving changes and patches that balance out the game, nerfing and buffing certain heroes. So naturally, the obvious answer to what the April Fool’s update for Overwatch should be is completely distorting and exaggerating the abilities of those heroes. This resulted in a completely unhinged and memorable update that is every pro player’s worst nightmare. Below are only some of the absurd changes made to each hero. A full list of changes is available on the Blizzard website.

Mauga, one of the newest heroes, has a very small update. No, literally. He is small now. Mauga’s overall scale has been reduced by 50%, making him even smaller than Torbjorn, and his health has been decreased from 350 to a measly 25. Additionally, if an enemy is “On Fire”, shooting them with Mauga’s chain gun will literally set them on fire. Developer comments help players to better understand the reasons for these changes and Mauga’s is probably the most informative: “Smallga”.

The same can be said for Brigitte’s developer comments: “Bigitte”. Brigitte’s changes include increasing her scale to 1.5x her normal size and increasing her armor from 50 to 150. Also, her health has been increased from 250 to a whopping 700. These two opposite ends of the size spectrum perfectly portray Blizzard’s vision for this April Fools update: madness.

Here are some other changes that are quite amusing. Mei now has an ability that launches her into the air by creating an ice pillar under her. Reaper’s primary fire now shoots only one shotgun and his secondary fire now shoots the other shotgun. Torbjorn’s turrets can now be placed on any surface, yes, even allies. Ana’s sleep darts now cause asleep enemies to slowly rise into the air while they are asleep. And many, many more.

Dead By Daylight

Behaviour Interactive’s four-versus-one horror game Dead by Daylight has also received an April Fool’s Update titled “My Little Oni”. Now, this title can be misleading. At first glance, one would assume that the killer has been miniaturized. However, what this update actually added is a game mode where the Survivors have been shrunken down instead, making them difficult to see. Their goal was to repair three generators and once all three had been fixed then the Exit Gates would automatically open and the survivors could escape. Sounds easy, right? Well, try repairing those three generators while a super-sized Oni is on the prowl.

With both height and damage dealt increased, the oversized Oni is definitely a fearsome foe. It also had a Mini-Mori where the Oni crushes the Survivor under his foot. Survivors do have a few options to combat the Oni. As per usual, they could throw down pallets to stop the killer from chasing them, but due to their smaller size, they were unable to vault over pallets or through windows.

Some general gameplay changes were included to even things out a little. Maps would not generate any basements or chests and players were unable to have items, perks, add-ons, or offerings. In addition to the game mode “My Little Oni ”, two new cosmetic headgear items were released for the characters Vittoria Toscano and Adam Francis. While it only lasted from April 1st to April 3rd, this game mode was a lighthearted break from the usually intense and competitive Dead by Daylight.

Every year game companies continue to increase the creativeness and absurdity of their April Fools Updates. This year was certainly no exception and the bar for next year’s April Fools update has definitely been raised.