Half-Life 2 testers horsing around with physics props ‘to make the 47th playthrough of the game more interesting’ probably had no idea it would result in Gabe Newell launching a garden gnome into space 16 years later

“Little Rocket Man” is truly one of the greatest bits in videogame history⁠—a challenging achievement in Half-Life 2: Episode 2 that requires you to carry a cherubic little garden gnome named “Gnome Chompski” through the entirety of the campaign and deposit the wee fellow on a rocket ship to another dimension in the final level. The Chompski achievement returned in several later Valve games, including Half-Life: Alyx. It reached apotheosis with Gabe Newell’s 2020 IRL recreation, with a tangible Chompski launched into space as a fundraiser for a pediatric charity. And it all began with bored Valve QA testers messing around with physics props in Half-Life 2.

“This small baby doll has a long legacy,” explained Valve developer Scott Dalton in Half-Life 2’s new commentary mode while Gordon explores the playground in the game’s opening. The baby in question is a scrungly little doll missing an eye and an arm. When you pick the baby up, it makes a little cooing noise, and that’s about it⁠—or it would have been if mid-development madness hadn’t set in.

“During the long months of internal testing, some of the team turned it into a challenge⁠—a way to make the 47th playthrough of the game a bit more fun,” said Dalton. “They’d place the doll inside a nearby blue crate and see how far they could carry it throughout the game. After Half-Life 2 launched, the community started carrying cratebaby as well, adding their own stories and rules to the mix.