Dinosaur Game
Chrome Dinosaur Game | |
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![]() The T-Rex player character | |
Developer(s) | |
Designer(s) | Sebastien Gabriel |
Platform(s) | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS |
Dinosaur Game, also known as T-Rex Game and Dino Runner, is an in-built browser game in the Google Chrome web browser.[1][2] The game was created by Sebastien Gabriel in 2014, and can be accessed by hitting the spacebar when offline on Google Chrome. The creation of the game is to reference pre-historic times when going offline.
Gameplay
When the user tries to browse when offline, a message is shown that they are not connected to the Internet. An illustration of the "Lonely T-Rex" dinosaur is shown at the top, designed by Sebastien Gabriel.[3] Tapping the dinosaur (in Android or iOS) or pressing space or ↑ (on desktop) launches the game in which the player controls a running dinosaur by tapping the screen (in Android or iOS) or pressing space, ↑ or ↓ (on desktop) to avoid obstacles, including cacti and pterodactyls. When the player reaches 700 points, the game begins to switch between day (white background, black lines and shapes) and night (black background, white lines and shapes). During September 2018, for Google Chrome's 10th birthday, a birthday cake causing the dinosaur to wear a birthday hat when collected was added.[4] Reaching a score of 900 will switch the color scheme back to day, and the switch back and forth will occur at further subsequent milestones.[5][6][7][8] The game is also available at the "chrome://network-error/-106" and "chrome://dino" pages.[9] The game's code is available on the Chromium site.[7] The game only ends after 17 million years of playtime, in reference to how long the T-Rex existed before it went extinct.[10] If an administrator of the computer disables the dinosaur game, when a player attempts to play the game, he or she will receive an error messages with a photo of a meteor coming after the dinosaur saying that the administrator of that computer has turned off the dinosaur game. [11]
History and Development
During development, the game was given the codename of "Project Bolan", in reference to the lead singer Marc Bolan of the 1970s band T-Rex. The game was released in September 2014, but failed on performance for older devices. The game's code was re-written and re-released in December 2014. 4 years later, the game celebrated its 4th birthday with themed decoration.[10]
Reception
The base game received widespread recognition, with the creators revealing that 270 million games are played monthly.[11]
References
- ^ "How to Access Chrome's New Hidden Endless Running Game". OMG! Chrome!. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Google Easter Eggs : 15+ Best Google Easter Eggs & Google Tricks 2017". web.archive.org. 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ "Interview with Sebastien Gabriel, a Google Chrome Visual Designer". OMG! Chrome!. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ JC Torres (September 4, 2018). "Chrome T-Rex offline game parties with birthday hat, cake". slashgear.com. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
- ^ Sneddon, Joey-Elijah (September 25, 2014). "This is Chrome's Newest Easter Egg. And It's Awesome". OMG Chrome.
- ^ Clinton Matos (May 20, 2016). "Google Chrome's offline "Dinosaur Game" now has a day-night cycle". htxt.co.za. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ a b Agarwal, Amit (October 26, 2015). "Play the Dinosaur Game Hidden inside your Google Chrome". Digital Inspiration.
- ^ Sneddon, Joey-Elijah (June 18, 2015). "Chrome's Hidden Dinosaur Game Just Got Even Better". OMG Chrome.
- ^ Biersdorfer, J. D. (November 14, 2017). "When Dinosaurs Roam in Chrome". The New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Hughes, Matthew (2018-09-07). "4 years later, Google finally explains the origins of its Chrome dinosaur game".
- ^ a b "As the Chrome dino runs, we caught up with the Googlers who built it". Google Blogs.