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Secrets

Hidden tricks, rare drops and easter eggs in EarthBound.

Secret	How it works
Name your own PSI move	Whatever you enter as your “favourite thing” at the start becomes the name of Ness’s special PSI attack. Leave it alone and it’s PSI Rockin.
“Don’t Care” names	Choose Don’t Care on a naming screen to fill in a preset name. Keep choosing it to cycle through more.
Instant wins	Once your party is far stronger than an area, enemies run from you. Touch one and you win straight away without a battle.
Jeff fixes broken items	Carry broken items with Jeff and rest at a hotel or home. If his IQ is high enough, he repairs them into powerful gadgets. The IQ needed is in the Items table.
Rare 1/128 drops	The best gear drops rarely: Sword of Kings (Starman Super), Gutsy Bat (Bionic Kraken), Goddess ribbon (Ghost of Starman), Star pendant (Major Psychic Psycho) and Magic Fry Pan (Chomposaur).
Truffle hunting	Wear the Piggy nose in Deep Darkness to dig up Magic truffles, which restore about 80 PP.
The Insignificant item	Take it from the Threed hospital to its owner in the Twoson hospital to get a Magic truffle.
Egg to chicken	Carry a Fresh Egg and it hatches into a Chick, then grows into a Chicken that sells for $110.
Run faster	A Skip sandwich makes you walk very fast for about 10 seconds; the DX version lasts about 20.
Better food with condiments	Sprinkle the right condiment on food to boost recovery. Jar of delisauce works with anything.
Bicycle bell	Ride the Bicycle while Ness is alone and press R to ring the bell.
Photos in the credits	A photographer appears at certain spots to take the party’s picture. The photos are shown during the ending credits.
Letters after the end	After the final battle, gift boxes in Saturn Valley hold letters for Ness, Paula and Jeff.
Anti-piracy traps	Copied versions of the game add extra enemies and wipe the save before the final battle.

PSI Rockin in an EarthBound battle — PSI Rockin: Ness’s special PSI takes its name from your favourite thing.

The Camera Man taking the party’s picture in EarthBound — The Camera Man takes the party’s picture; the photos return in the ending credits.

Deep Darkness swamp in EarthBound — Deep Darkness, where the Piggy nose digs up Magic truffles.

Ness riding the Bicycle in EarthBound (SNES) — Ness on the Bicycle, which only works while he travels alone.

EarthBound · Super Nintendo. Game content © Nintendo / APE / HAL Laboratory.

References

Covered edition: The original SNES adventure: Mother 2 in Japan (1994), released as EarthBound in North America in 1995. This guide uses English-version names.

Nintendo: official EarthBound guide