Moon — Black Ops Zombies Easter Egg Guide

In this guide: full main-quest walkthrough, recommended loadout, side Easter eggs & songs, boss strategy · Hard, ~45–80 min.

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Black Ops · 2010

Moon

Griffin Station on the Moon. Complete Richtofen's Grand Scheme — Part 1 (Cryogenic Slumber Party) frees Samantha, Part 2 (Big Bang Theory) blows up the Earth.

Released 23 Sep 2011 Richtofen's Grand Scheme2 parts4 players (Part 2)
HardEst. time45–80 minPlayers1–4 (solo-capable)Updated7 Sep 2026
Documented here10 walkthrough steps · 6 side Easter eggs (incl. 2 songs) · 3 weapon builds · 8 named areas · 2 sources cross-checkedCounted from this page, not estimated. We publish what is documented rather than a percentage of what might exist — nobody can honestly claim to know the full list.

Quick answers

How do you complete the Moon Easter egg?

It is rated Hard and takes about 45–80 min. The run breaks down like this:
  1. Part 1 — Samantha Says
  2. Hack the buttons
  3. Breach Tunnel 6
  4. Move the Vril Sphere
  5. Fill the tube → Samantha's reveal
  6. Part 2 — Casimir plates from Area 51
  7. Charge the Golden Rod
  8. Swap souls at the MPD
Each stage is written out in full — with the exact locations, the order things must be done in and what to do when a step refuses to trigger — in the walkthrough below.

How long does the Moon Easter egg take?

About 45–80 min for a run that already knows the steps, and we rate it Hard. A first attempt takes considerably longer — almost all of the time goes on setup rather than the finale, so knowing the order in advance is what shortens a run.

Can you do the Moon Easter egg solo?

Players: 1–4 (solo-capable). It is solo-capable. Co-op mainly helps with the timed steps, where a second player can hold a zombie or cover a second position, and it makes the ending far more forgiving.

Is there a song Easter egg on Moon?

Yes — 2: “Coming Home” and 8-bit computer tracks. Elena Siegman & Kevin Sherwood. Hold interact on the 3 teddy bears (any order): on the crates below the Receiving Area near the jump pad · behind a metal grate in the airlock between Tunnel 6 and the power room · inside the wall opening in Full trigger steps for each one are in the side Easter eggs section.

What are the main areas on Moon?

8 are documented: Area 51 / No Man's Land, Receiving Bay, Outside Receiving Bay, Tunnel 6, Tunnel 11, Laboratories, Power Room / Pyramid room and Bio-Dome. Knowing the names matters more than it sounds — most guides, including this one, describe locations by area name rather than by direction.

How many side Easter eggs are on Moon?

6 are documented here — song, mechanic, side quest and reward. Each one has its own steps rather than a one-line mention, so they can be followed mid-game.

When was Moon released?

23 Sep 2011.

Key areas

Area 51 / No Man's Land

Earth spawn: Juggernog OR Speed Cola (alternates), Pack-a-Punch, teleporter to the Moon; timed pressure — no rounds, zombies scale until you leave.

Receiving Bay

Moon arrival room: P.E.S. station, Quick Revive, box spawn, and the three hacker panels that stop the Excavators.

Outside Receiving Bay

Low-gravity yard with the gravity lift and the 'Samantha Says' consoles for the main quest.

Tunnel 6

Tunnel breached by Excavator Pi; impassable until its excavator is disabled.

Tunnel 11

Tunnel breached by Excavator Omicron; same rule.

Laboratories

Multi-floor labs with the hacker spawn, wall-buys and quest computers; windows can decompress if broken.

Power Room / Pyramid room

Power switch 'on the side of the power generator in front of the pyramid'; the M.P.D. pyramid — core of Richtofen's Grand Scheme.

Bio-Dome

Big glass dome with bounce-pad gravity lifts and an Excavator threat; main-quest plate steps happen here.

Steps at a glance

  1. Part 1 — Samantha Says
  2. Hack the buttons
  3. Breach Tunnel 6
  4. Move the Vril Sphere
  5. Fill the tube → Samantha's reveal
  6. Part 2 — Casimir plates from Area 51
  7. Charge the Golden Rod
  8. Swap souls at the MPD
  9. Arm the missiles (Samantha Says ×3)
  10. Big Bang Theory — destroy Earth
Two milestones. Opening the MPD earns Cryogenic Slumber Party and is solo-able; the full Big Bang Theory needs an online co-op lobby (2–4 players) with a qualified profile that has already finished Call of the Dead and Shangri-La — and that profile must spawn as Richtofen (with the Golden Rod/Vril Device and Focusing Stone showing on the HUD). Note the Hacker and PES share a slot, so the Hacker carrier can't breathe in vacuum.

Before you start

What to have in hand before step 1 — from the loadout notes, from the walkthrough itself, and from the map's own quest documentation where the gate is never stated in a step.

Gates on this quest
  • Richtofen's Grand Scheme is gated by equipment rather than difficulty: the P.E.S. and the hacker are both mandatory.
  • Excavator breaches permanently remove the oxygen from Tunnel 6, Tunnel 11 and the Bio-Dome if they are not hacked in time. That damage does not come back for the rest of the match.
Stated in the walkthrough
  • “You need a Gersh Device and a QED (a player can hold one or the other, not both).” step 6

Set aside 45–80 min · 1–4 (solo-capable)

Where your run will differ

Gathered here so you meet them before they cost you a run rather than after — quoted word for word from the guide below, or researched from the map's own quest documentation.

Which version you're playing

This map exists in more than one release, and these are the points where they differ. Everything else in this guide applies to both.

  • “Zombies Chronicles differences: no Call of the Dead or Shangri-La completion is required to run Big Bang Theory, and the whole quest is solo-able (though box RNG for the QED and Gersh Device swaps makes a solo run painful).” Moon on Black Ops 3 / Chronicles
  • Black Ops 3 swaps Double Tap for Double Tap 2.0 and PhD Flopper for Widow's Wine.
Solo or co-op

What changes with your player count. The rest of the guide is the same either way.

  • The One Giant Leap respawn trick needs a co-op partner downed in the Receiving Bay — there is no solo equivalent.

Full walkthrough

0% complete

The quest in the order this guide runs it — tap any step to jump to it, and it fills in as you tick steps off.

1
Receiving Bay terminals

Part I — first Samantha Says

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After power, at the four colour terminals outside Receiving Bay (Tunnel 6 / Olympia side), note their fixed left→right order — red, green, blue, yellow. Interact with any terminal to start the game. All four flash a colour together; press the terminal for that colour, then repeat as the sequence grows by one colour each round. It runs five rounds — each correct round flashes the terminals green, while a wrong input flashes all four terminals red and restarts this step. Clearing the fifth round rapidly flashes green and the screens go dark.

2
Lab floors

Part I — the timed Lab hack

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Grab the Hacker from one of six paper-marked spots across the three Lab floors (it replaces your PES, so don't take it into vacuum). On the middle Lab floor, hack any one of the row of four dim wall buttons (500 points) — this starts a ~60-second timer and lights four green terminals among eight possible spots (three lower floor, two middle, three upper). Hack every bright-green terminal, then race back and press all four wall buttons — they only need pressing in quick succession, so one player can hit all four solo (no simultaneous presses or four players required). The row sits near the Bowie Knife on the middle floor. If the wall lights go red, a terminal was missed or the timer ran out, and restarting costs another 500-point hack — re-hack a starter and retry.

3
Excavators · Receiving Bay

Part I — breach Tunnel 6 (Excavator Pi)

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Listen for excavator announcements and let Excavator Pi fully breach Tunnel 6 — don't confuse it with Omicron (Tunnel 11) or Epsilon (Biodome), and don't retract it early. After the breach (Tunnel 6 stays in vacuum), equip the Hacker on the matching Pi terminal in Receiving Bay to retract the arm; the Vril Sphere is now on the Tunnel 6 floor.

4
Tunnel 6 → dish → MPD

Part I — the Vril Sphere route

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In Tunnel 6, knife the dark Vril Sphere and follow it, knifing again each time it stops (open any blocking doors — it can't pass debris). At the exterior satellite dish above Receiving Bay, shoot it with the combined Wave Gun (a normal gun or split Zap Guns won't work). When it lodges in the ceiling of the Stamin-Up / Tunnel 11 room, dislodge it — any weapon works here (a Ray Gun or a thrown grenade is just the easiest); only the earlier satellite-dish shot strictly needs the combined Wave Gun. Escort it into the MPD cavern, where it settles into the circular Vril Interface.

5
MPD cavern

Part I finale — open the MPD

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A glass canister rises at the base of the MPD — kill 25 zombies close to it (red soul streams into the tube confirm valid kills), then pull the lever on the right of the MPD. The pyramid opens to reveal Samantha, everyone gets a 90-second Death Machine, and Cryogenic Slumber Party unlocks. Solo / split-screen can stop here.

6
Area 51 · Receiving Bay

Part II — the hexagonal plates from Area 51

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You need a Gersh Device and a QED (a player can hold one or the other, not both). In Area 51, grenade the two hexagonal Casimir plates off the shelf right of the teleporter, then Gersh them onto the pad and teleport back — they land in Receiving Bay by Quick Revive. Throw a QED at the grouped plates to move them onto the small machine in the corner opposite Quick Revive.

7
Receiving Bay computer

Part II — charge the Vril Device

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Find the small curved silver/copper S-shaped cable — a loose pickup that can be grabbed at any time, even before the quest starts. Spawns cluster in and just outside the Laboratory (multiple spots per lab room, on corners and tables), so check there first; the Deadshot stairs, Biodome exit, Tunnel 6 and exterior teleporter route are rarer fallbacks. Place it between the computer and the plate machine. The qualified Richtofen player then inserts the Golden Rod / Vril Device into the machine and presses the computer repeatedly until the screen turns green; take the supercharged device (Richtofen only).

If the computer stays red, the qualified profile isn't Richtofen, the CotD/Shangri flags are missing, the plates aren't seated, or the cable isn't installed.

8
MPD cavern

Part II finale — the soul swap

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At the opened MPD, four glass canisters rise around the pyramid — fill each with 25 close kills (100 total), one corner at a time until each is visibly full. Richtofen inserts the supercharged Vril Device into the front slot for the soul swap: he takes control of the Aether and gains all eight perks permanently (kept through downs).

9
Receiving Bay terminals

Part III — second Samantha Says (×3)

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Throw a QED at the Vril Interface in front of the MPD to launch the sphere back to the four colour terminals outside Receiving Bay. Complete three more Samantha Says games (longer patterns), each of which raises one of the three canyon rockets. Confirm all three rockets are up and Maxis has finished speaking before the final step.

Accounts differ slightly here — some guides describe a single, harder Samantha Says after the QED throw that raises all three rockets together. Either way the finish condition is identical: all three rockets up before the final Gersh.

10
Finale

Big Bang Theory — destroy the Earth

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Throw a final Gersh Device beside the Vril Sphere at the terminals — it's pulled in, the three rockets fire at Earth and destroy it (the Earth/Area 51 skybox changes permanently).

Reward: everyone earns Big Bang Theory and all eight perks for the rest of the match (kept through normal downs). This completes Richtofen's Grand Scheme and the BO1 story.

Side Easter Eggs & extras

Everything beyond the main quest. Tap any entry to open the full how-and-where breakdown.

Song

“Coming Home”

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Elena Siegman & Kevin Sherwood. Hold interact on the 3 teddy bears (any order): on the crates below the Receiving Area near the jump pad · behind a metal grate in the airlock between Tunnel 6 and the power room · inside the wall opening in the Stamin-Up room of Tunnel 11. Once per match.

  1. Hold Use on 3 teddy bears wearing P.E.S. space helmets, in any order
  2. Receiving Bay — on the pile of crates by the launch pad (M14 / Olympia gravity-lift area)
  3. Airlock between Tunnel 6 and the power-switch area — above the P.E.S. suit
  4. Biodome — the third helmeted bear
  5. 'Coming Home' by Elena Siegman plays
Song

8-bit computer tracks

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Three computers play bonus chiptune tracks: Re-Damned (the Lab computer next to the Biodome door) · 8-bit “Coming Home” (the computer at the end of Tunnel 11 near the power-room door) · 8-bit “Pareidolia” (the lower Lab-floor computer, in the corner left of the power-room entrance).

Mechanic

The Hacker

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Shares the PES helmet slot (so no breathing in vacuum). From six paper-marked Lab spawns; hacks doors/windows cheaply, re-rolls the box, transfers points to teammates, raises temporary PaP barriers and retracts excavator arms — the map's key utility.

  1. Pick up the Hacker in the laboratory/receiving area (by the yellow paper) — only one player holds it, and holding it means no P.E.S. helmet, so stay out of the vacuum
  2. Hack doors: aim and hold to open for ~200 less, but it's slow (~30s) — only to save points
  3. Re-roll the Mystery Box for 600, or hack a rolled weapon into a floating Weapon power-up for a partial refund
  4. Convert a dropped power-up into a Max Ammo for 5,000
  5. Hack an excavator terminal in spawn to stop a breach (pays 1,000 each time)
  6. Also: cheapen wall guns, refund perks, rebuild all barriers for points, transfer points, or lock Pack-a-Punch
Side quest

Area 51 opening

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Spawn is a timed frenzy at Area 51 with Jugger-Nog/Speed Cola and Pack-a-Punch (5,000) available; teleport back via the Moon pad and PES up before opening into vacuum. Excavators (Pi/Omicron/Epsilon) periodically threaten tunnels — hack the matching terminal to retract them.

  1. The match starts in Area 51, not the Moon — on round 1, knife zombies (130 points each) instead of shooting
  2. Bank ~2,000 points before the alarm sounds (after which zombies sprint)
  3. When melee kills dry up, shoot the M1911 into bunched groups for multi-kills
  4. At 5,000, use the Area 51 Pack-a-Punch to make Mustang & Sally from the M1911
  5. Take the teleporter to the Moon receiving bay to start round 1 with a strong lead
  6. Area 51 is a hot zone every visit (fast zombies, no perks) — bank quickly and teleport out
Reward

Extra achievements

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Perks in Spaaaaace — buy all eight perk machines in one game (the quest reward doesn't replace the purchases). Fully Armed and Operational — hold three Pack-a-Punched weapons at once (needs Mule Kick). One Small Hack for a Man… — hack any valid object. Plus Ground Control and One Giant Leap around the excavator system.

Version · BO3

Moon on Black Ops 3 / Chronicles

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Zombies Chronicles differences: no Call of the Dead or Shangri-La completion is required to run Big Bang Theory, and the whole quest is solo-able (though box RNG for the QED and Gersh Device swaps makes a solo run painful). Richtofen is still the mandatory quest character. Note the Big Bang Theory achievement/trophy does not exist on BO3 — only the BO1 original awards it.

When it isn't working

The stalls that actually cost people runs on this map, and what to do about each.

TroubleshootingEach of these is quoted from the step it belongs to, derived from a gate the guide already states, or researched from the map's own quest documentation — nothing here is guesswork about what might be going wrong.

Stuck on step 4 — Part I — the Vril Sphere route?

At the exterior satellite dish above Receiving Bay, shoot it with the combined Wave Gun (a normal gun or split Zap Guns won't work).

Common Moon questions

Direct answers to the specific things players look up mid-game — part locations, puzzle steps and more.

How do I get to the Moon?

You do not start there. The match opens at Area 51, which has no rounds — the zombies simply scale until you leave. Knife on round one for 130 a kill, bank what you can before the alarm sounds and they start sprinting, then take the teleporter pad up. Area 51 stays a hot zone every time you go back.

What is the P.E.S. and why can't I breathe?

The P.E.S. is the space suit, picked up at the station in Receiving Bay, and you need it anywhere in vacuum. The catch is that the Hacker shares the same slot — whoever is carrying the Hacker cannot wear the helmet, so they cannot go outside.

What does the Hacker actually do?

It is the map's utility tool, from one of six paper-marked Lab spawns. It opens doors for about 200 points less (slowly, around 30 seconds), re-rolls the Mystery Box for 600, turns a rolled weapon into a floating Weapon power-up for a partial refund, converts a dropped power-up into a Max Ammo for 5,000, raises temporary Pack-a-Punch barriers, and retracts excavator arms for 1,000 each.

How do I stop the excavators?

Hack the matching terminal in Receiving Bay. There are three — Pi, Omicron and Epsilon — and each breaches a different place: Tunnel 6, Tunnel 11 and the Bio-Dome. A breached area stays in vacuum until you retract its arm, so anyone without a P.E.S. is locked out of it.

Where is the S-shaped cable?

It is a loose pickup you can grab at any time, even before the quest starts. Spawns cluster in and just outside the Laboratory — several spots per lab room, on corners and tables. The Deadshot stairs, the Bio-Dome exit, Tunnel 6 and the exterior teleporter route are rarer fallbacks.

What order do the Samantha Says terminals go in?

The four colour terminals outside Receiving Bay are fixed left to right: red, green, blue, yellow. Interact with any of them to start. All four flash a colour together and you press the terminal matching it, with the sequence growing by one each round over five rounds. A correct round flashes them green; a wrong input flashes all four red and restarts the step.

What is the difference between Cryogenic Slumber Party and Big Bang Theory?

They are the two halves. Part 1, Cryogenic Slumber Party, opens the M.P.D. and frees Samantha, and it can be finished alone. Part 2, Big Bang Theory, destroys the Earth, and on Black Ops 1 it needs an online co-op lobby of two to four players with a qualified profile that has already completed Call of the Dead and Shangri-La.

Do I have to play as Richtofen?

For the second half, yes. The player carrying it through has to be Richtofen, with the Golden Rod and Focusing Stone visible on the HUD. That stays true in Black Ops 3, even though Zombies Chronicles drops the Call of the Dead and Shangri-La prerequisites and makes the whole quest soloable.

What do the three computers play?

Bonus chiptune tracks: “Re-Damned” on the Lab computer next to the Bio-Dome door, 8-bit “Coming Home” on the computer at the end of Tunnel 11 near the power-room door, and 8-bit “Pareidolia” on the lower Lab-floor computer, in the corner left of the power-room entrance.

What does finishing the quest actually give me?

The soul swap hands Richtofen control of the Aether and all eight perks permanently, kept through downs. Completing Big Bang Theory gives every player all eight perks for the rest of the match, and permanently changes the Earth in the skybox.

Visual guides & sources

Screenshots and exact part locations live in these — open one on a second screen.

Map discussion

A shared community board for Moon — posts are public, saved on the server and visible to everyone across devices. Handy for strategies, spawn variations you've noticed, or steps to double-check. Please keep it civil and on-topic.

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Part of the Zombies Easter Egg Codex — step-by-step Call of Duty Zombies Easter egg guides for every map. Open Moon in the interactive codex for the solvers and map discussion.