Dinosaur Game
The Dinosaur Game (also known as the Chrome Dino) is an endless runner browser game developed by Google and built into the Google Chrome web browser. In the game, the player guides a pixelated Tyrannosaurus rex across a side-scrolling desert landscape. The game was created by Sebastien Gabriel, Alan Bettes, and Edward Jung in 2014.
Also recorded as Chrome Dino · Dino Runner · Dino game · T-Rex Game
Dinosaur Game

O'micron · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- Language
- English
- Genre
- action game · endless runner game · side-scrolling video game
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Documentary summary
The Dinosaur Game (also known as the Chrome Dino) is an endless runner browser game developed by Google and built into the Google Chrome web browser. In the game, the player guides a pixelated Tyrannosaurus rex across a side-scrolling desert landscape. The game was created by Sebastien Gabriel, Alan Bettes, and Edward Jung in 2014.
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wikidata · Q82235406 · wikipedia · Dinosaur Game
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Developer — Google • Designer — * Sebastien Gabriel • Alan Bettes • Edward Jung • Platforms — Google Chrome • Released — September 23, 2014 • Genre — Endless running game
Gameplay
Gameplay
• Illustration — Nighttime graphics in the game When a user attempts to navigate to a web page on Google Chrome while being offline, the browser notifies the user that they are not connected to the Internet, with an illustration of a pixelated Tyrannosaurus rex shown on the page. The game can then be launched either by pressing space or on desktop, or by tapping the dinosaur on Android or iOS mobile devices. Additionally, the game can be accessed by inputting chrome: dino or chrome: network-error/-106 into the Omnibox. During the game, the dinosaur continuously moves from left to right across a black-and-white desert landscape, with the player attempting to avoid oncoming obstacles such as cacti and pterosaurs by jumping or ducking. Pressing space, or tapping the dinosaur on mobile devices will cause the dinosaur to jump. Pressing the down key will either cause the dinosaur to duck or fall faster depending on if the button is pressed mid-air. As the game progresses, the speed of play gradually increases until the user hits an obstacle, prompting an instant game over. Once the player reaches a certain point, the game switches from day to night (or vice versa, depending on if dark mode is selected in the browser's settings). The color scheme and accompanying weather graphics then alternate as the game progresses. The game was designed to reach its maximum score after approximately 17million years of playtime, in reference to how long the Tyrannosaurus rex existed before it went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. If a network administrator disables the Dinosaur Game, an error message appears when attempting to play the game, which features an image of a meteor heading towards the player character.
Development
Development
• Illustration — The game over header and restart button after the player runs into a cactus The game was made by members of the Chrome UX team in 2014, which consisted of Sebastien Gabriel, Alan Bettes, and Edward Jung. Gabriel designed the player character, named the "Lonely T-Rex". During development, the game was given the codename "Project Bolan", in reference to Marc Bolan, the lead singer of the band T. Rex. The developers chose the dinosaur theme as a reference to the game's function, a joke that not having an internet connection is equivalent to living in the "prehistoric ages". The game was released in September 2014. It initially did not work on older devices, so the code was updated and re-released in December of the same year.
Updates
Updates
Pterosaurs were added as obstacles with a browser update in 2015. In September 2018, an Easter egg was added in celebration of Chrome's 10th birthday and the game's fourth birthday, with a birthday cake appearing in the desert and a birthday hat appearing on the Lonely T-Rex if the cake is "eaten". In November of the same year, Google introduced a feature to save the player's high score. The game's source code is available on the Chromium site. In July 2020, an Olympic torch Easter egg for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics simulating various Olympic activities was added. Upon reaching the torch, the dino transformed into various Olympic games such as swimming, running, and many others. Instead of the cacti and pterosaur obstacles, the dino encountered challenges related to the Olympics. In 2021, Google introduced a widget in March for iOS 14 that led players to chrome: dino; a similar widget was introduced to Android later that year. In 2024, Google released GenDino, allowing users to type in a prompt and generate a Dino game with AI-generated sprites. The game was made unavailable later that year.
History of the object
Dated record
History of the object
The full dated record · 1 entries
2014
Dinosaur Game published.
Reception and impact
• Illustration — Statue of the Chrome Dino, located in Gyulagarak, Armenia In 2018, the creators said that approximately 270 million games were played monthly. The Dinosaur Game is referenced in the "couch gag" opening segment of the season 34 premiere of The Simpsons, "Habeas Tortoise". In August 2020, MSCHF and 100 Thieves partnered to create a modified version titled Dino Swords, which featured a small arsenal of weapons and time-slowing pills. When mismanaged, the weapons could backfire and harm the dinosaur. The game evolved from a functional error message into a pop-culture icon, exemplified by its adoption as the official internal mascot for the Google Chrome team. The game's popularity has also led to widespread distribution across various web platforms, including open-source repositories like GitHub and gaming portals such as CrazyGames, which host mirrored versions of the game for users on non-Chrome browsers and often feature enhanced functionalities like global leaderboards. By the mid-2020s, the Dinosaur Game had become a standardized benchmark in academic research for reinforcement learning (RL). Its open-source nature and predictable physics make it a preferred environment for training and evaluating the real-time decision-making capabilities of autonomous AI agents.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Li, Abner. Chrome 90 for iPhone rolling out with search, Dino widgets. 9to5Google. May 10, 2021.
- 2.Tumblison, Craig. Interview with Sebastien Gabriel, a Google Chrome Visual Designer. OMG! Chrome!. March 7, 2014.
- 3.Biersdorfer, J. D. When Dinosaurs Roam in Chrome. The New York Times. November 14, 2017.
- 4.Roshan, Azar. Google Easter Eggs: 15+ Best Google Easter Eggs & Google Tricks 2017. Feeds You Need. August 5, 2017.
- 5.Sneddon, Joey-Elijah. This is Chrome's Newest Easter Egg. And It's Awesome. OMG! Chrome!. September 25, 2014.
- 6.Matos, Clinton. Google Chrome's offline "Dinosaur Game" now has a day-night cycle. HTXT. May 20, 2016.
- 7.As the Chrome dino runs, we caught up with the Googlers who built it. The Keyword. September 6, 2018.
- 8.How to disable Dinosaur game in Google Chrome when device is offline. The Windows Club. March 31, 2021.
- 9.Hughes, Matthew. 4 years later, Google finally explains the origins of its Chrome dinosaur game. TheNextWeb. September 7, 2018.
- 10.Sneddon, Joey-Elijah. Chrome's Hidden Dinosaur Game Just Got Even Better. OMG! Chrome!. June 18, 2015.
- 11.Torres, JC. Chrome T-Rex offline game parties with birthday hat, cake. SlashGear. September 4, 2018.
- 12.Kerns, Taylor. Show off your Chrome dino-game skills with the arrival of cross-device high score sync. Android Police. November 30, 2018.
- 13.Agarwal, Amit. Play the Dinosaur Game Hidden inside your Google Chrome. Digital Inspiration. October 26, 2015.
- 14.Alphabet. Chromium Github components/neterror/resources/dino_game. Github. Mar 10, 2026.
- 15.Bradshaw, Kyle. Chrome's Dino Run game gains in-depth Tokyo Olympics easter egg. 9to5Google. July 21, 2021.
- 16.Finn, John. How To Find & Play Chrome's 'Dino Run' Olympics Easter Egg Game. Screen Rant. July 22, 2021.
- 17.Abrams, Lawrence. Google is adding its Dinosaur Game as an iPhone widget. Bleeping Computer. April 17, 2021.
- 18.Bradshaw, Kyle. Android is getting a homescreen widget for Chrome's famous 'Dino Run' game. 9to5Google. July 19, 2021.
- 19.Create a Custom Chrome Dino Game With GenDino. howtogeek. May 21, 2024.
- 20.The famous Chrome Dinosaur "No Internet" in Gyulagarak, Armenia. July 30, 2021.
- 21.Wang, Jules. The Simpsons run Chrome's offline desert gauntlet in latest couch gag. Android Police. 2022-09-26.
- 22.Li, Abner. 'The Simpsons' 'couch gag' pays tribute to Chrome Dino game. 9to5Google. 2022-09-26.
- 23.Reichert, Corinne. The Simpsons Season 34 Opening Couch Gag Pays Homage to Chrome's T-Rex Game. CNET. September 26, 2022.
- 24.Silver, Curtis. Google Chrome's Dino Game Receives A Violent Upgrade In Dino Swords. Forbes.
- 25.Alexander, Julia. Google's Dinosaur browser game gets a dope mod that includes double swords. The Verge. August 24, 2020.
- 26.As the Chrome dino runs, we caught up with the Googlers who built it. Google. 2018-09-06.
- 27.牛さん. wayou/t-rex-runner. 2026-05-19.
- 28.Dinosaur Game 🕹️ Play on CrazyGames. www.crazygames.com.
- 29.Kulkarni, Advait. Review of Reinforcement Learning in Chrome Dino Game. 1–5. August 2023. 10.1109/ICCUBEA58933.2023.10392095.
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It depicts Tyrannosaurus rex, pterodactyl and Cactaceae. It is placed in the genres action game, endless runner game and side-scrolling video game.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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