Dinosaur Game
Space / ↑ to jump • ↓ to duck • P or Esc to pause
Player 1 Controls
Jump: Space / ↑
Duck: ↓
Pause: P / Esc
The endless runner — jump over cacti, dodge pterodactyls, survive as long as you can
The Dinosaur Game — also known as the Dino Runner, T-Rex Game, or Chrome Dino — is one of the most widely recognized browser games in the world. Born as a hidden Easter egg inside Google Chrome's offline error page, the little pixelated T-Rex has gone on to be played by millions of people every day, whether intentionally or accidentally when their internet connection drops. Our free online Dinosaur Game brings that same addictive endless runner experience directly to your browser, no internet outage required. The premise is beautifully simple: your dinosaur automatically runs from left to right, and your only job is to keep it alive. Press Space or the Up arrow to jump over ground-level cacti. Hold Down to duck under swooping pterodactyls. The further you run, the faster the game gets — and the harder it becomes to react in time. The game caps at a score of 99,999, matching the original Chrome game ceiling, though reaching it is an extraordinary feat that only the most dedicated players have achieved. What makes endless runner games so compelling is the purity of their feedback loop. There are no complex rules to learn, no inventory to manage, no maps to navigate. Every run starts the same way and ends the moment you touch an obstacle. That simplicity creates intense focus and the 'just one more run' mentality that has kept players hooked on this format since the earliest days of arcade gaming. Whether you play for thirty seconds or thirty minutes, each session is a complete experience. Our implementation goes well beyond the standard dino clone. We have added a fully automatic AI Bot Mode that watches the approaching obstacles and decides when to jump or duck — great for watching strategy patterns or simply letting the game play itself while you take a break. A 2-Player local co-op mode lets two people compete on the same keyboard: Player 1 uses Space and arrow keys, while Player 2 uses W and S. Both dinos share the same ground and face the same obstacles — last one alive wins. The game features three Speed Modes: Casual starts slower and is ideal for beginners or children; Classic replicates the original Chrome game speed curve; and Turbo throws you into the deep end immediately for experts who find the classic pace too gentle. You can also adjust Obstacle Density from Easy to Hard, controlling how frequently cacti and pterodactyls appear. Combined with the Night Mode settings — Auto cycling every 700 points, Always Night, or Always Day — and four color themes (Classic, Sepia, Neon, Pastel), you can tailor the experience exactly to your preferences. For players who want to improve, the Hitbox Debug Mode makes the invisible collision boundaries visible, helping you understand exactly how close you can get to obstacles without dying. The game uses forgiving hitboxes that are inset about 18-22% from the visible sprite edges — meaning you can get much closer to obstacles than they appear. This forgiveness is intentional and matches the original Chrome game design philosophy. Every run records your distance score, obstacles dodged, peak speed reached, and total run duration, giving you concrete metrics to improve on. Your top 5 all-time scores are saved in a local leaderboard. The game also supports Web Audio API sound effects — a satisfying jump chirp, a milestone chime every 100 points, and a crunchy game-over tone — all of which can be muted with a single toggle. Mobile players are fully supported with on-screen Jump and Duck buttons, plus canvas tap-to-jump and swipe-to-duck gestures. The game canvas scales responsively to fit any screen size while maintaining the crisp pixel-art aesthetic. All keyboard controls also work: Space and Up arrow to jump, Down to duck, and P or Escape to pause and resume at any time.
Understanding the Dinosaur Game
What Is the Dinosaur Game?
The Dinosaur Game is an endless runner game originally created by Google in 2014 as the offline error page Easter egg for Google Chrome. Internally codenamed 'Project Bolan' — a tribute to Marc Bolan of the band T-Rex — it was designed by Edward Jung, Sebastien Gabriel, and Alan Bettes. The game is accessible by typing chrome://dino in Chrome's address bar regardless of internet connection. An endless runner is a game genre where the player character moves forward automatically, and the player's sole task is to avoid obstacles for as long as possible. Score accumulates based on distance survived, and difficulty increases continuously. The Dinosaur Game's genius lies in its constraints: monochrome pixel art, two controls (jump and duck), two obstacle types (cacti and pterodactyls), and a single goal. These limitations create a focused, meditative experience that is easy to learn and nearly impossible to master.
How Does Scoring and Speed Work?
Score in the Dinosaur Game is based on distance traveled rather than obstacles dodged. Each frame of gameplay adds a small amount to your score proportional to the current game speed. The formula is approximately: score += speed × deltaTime × 0.4, where speed starts at 6 pixels per frame and increases by 0.001 per frame continuously. Maximum speed is 13 pixels per frame — beyond this, the game reaches a ceiling where even top players struggle to react. Scores are displayed as five-digit zero-padded numbers (00000 to 99999). Every 100 points, a milestone chime sounds and the screen briefly flashes — these milestones mark meaningful progress. The day/night cycle switches automatically every 700 points, inverting the color scheme and adding visual variety. At speed 13 with a 60fps display, a player has roughly 110ms to react to a newly visible obstacle — well within human reaction time limits, but leaving no room for error.
Why Is the Endless Runner Format So Enduring?
The endless runner format has produced some of the most popular mobile and browser games ever made — Flappy Bird, Temple Run, Canabalt, and of course the Chrome Dino. The format works because it eliminates friction from the gameplay loop. There is no loading screen, no tutorial, no story — you start immediately and end suddenly. This creates a powerful 'just one more run' compulsion. Each death is entirely the player's fault, never blamed on luck or unfair level design, which keeps frustration directed inward and motivation high. The progression comes entirely from personal improvement: learning obstacle patterns, timing jumps precisely, developing peripheral awareness. The Dinosaur Game adds depth through its speed increase — early runs feel leisurely, but high-speed runs demand the same neural focus as competitive gaming. This scalable difficulty means the game is equally engaging for casual players and dedicated high-score hunters.
Limitations and Accessibility Notes
Our Dinosaur Game is implemented entirely in the browser using HTML5 Canvas and JavaScript — no plugins, no downloads, and no server infrastructure required. All scores and settings are saved locally in your browser's localStorage, meaning they persist between visits on the same device and browser but do not sync across devices. Clearing browser data will reset your high scores. The game performs best on modern browsers with requestAnimationFrame support; very old browsers may experience slower performance. The AI Bot Mode is a heuristic algorithm — it reliably avoids obstacles up to speed 10 but begins failing near maximum speed due to reaction time limits. Mobile performance depends on device capability; lower-end devices may experience frame drops at high speeds. The game does not require an internet connection to play once loaded — it runs entirely client-side. Sound effects use the Web Audio API and require a browser that supports it; the mute toggle is provided as a fallback.
How to Play the Dinosaur Game
Start the Game
Press the Space bar, Up arrow key, or tap the game canvas to begin. Your dinosaur will start running automatically. The game starts at a comfortable speed and gradually accelerates the longer you survive.
Jump and Duck
Press Space or Up arrow to jump over cacti and low-flying pterodactyls. Press and hold Down arrow to duck under high-altitude pterodactyls. On mobile, use the on-screen JUMP and DUCK buttons, or tap the canvas to jump. Timing is everything — jump too early and you may land on an obstacle; jump too late and you'll collide.
Survive the Speed Increase
The game continuously speeds up as your score climbs. Cacti and pterodactyls appear more frequently and with less reaction time. Enable AI Bot Mode from the top controls to watch the computer demonstrate perfect timing, or use Hitbox Debug in Settings to see exactly where the collision zones are. Try Casual speed mode if Classic feels too fast.
Beat Your High Score
Your top 5 scores are saved automatically in the local Leaderboard. After each run, review your run stats — obstacles dodged, peak speed, and run duration — to track improvement. Challenge a friend with 2-Player mode (Player 2 uses W to jump and S to duck). The maximum possible score is 99,999 — matching the original Chrome game ceiling.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the score calculated in the Dinosaur Game?
Score is based entirely on distance traveled, not obstacles avoided. Every frame of gameplay adds a small amount to your score proportional to the current game speed. The faster the game gets, the faster your score climbs. Score is displayed as a five-digit zero-padded number from 00000 to a maximum of 99,999 — the same ceiling as the original Chrome game. Every 100 points, a milestone chime plays and the screen briefly flashes white to celebrate your progress. The day/night background cycle switches every 700 points, adding visual variety as you reach higher scores.
What is the difference between the speed modes?
There are three speed modes to match different skill levels. Casual mode starts at 4 pixels per frame (40% slower than the original) with a maximum of 9, making it ideal for beginners, children, or anyone who finds the classic pace overwhelming. Classic mode replicates the original Google Chrome game exactly: starts at 6 pixels per frame and caps at 13. Turbo mode starts you at 9 pixels per frame — already near the middle of the classic speed range — and reaches the same maximum of 13, providing an intense challenge from the first second. You can change speed mode in the Settings panel between runs.
How does the AI Bot Mode work?
The AI Bot Mode uses a simple look-ahead algorithm. Each frame, the bot finds the nearest obstacle that is still in front of the dinosaur. It calculates the time until that obstacle would be reached at the current game speed. If a cactus (ground level) will be reached within approximately 320ms, the bot triggers a jump. If a high-altitude pterodactyl will be reached within 200ms, it ducks instead. For low and mid-altitude pterodactyls, it jumps. The bot performs reliably up to around speed 10 — comparable to a skilled human player — but begins making errors near maximum speed (13) where reaction windows shrink below 100ms.
How does 2-Player local mode work?
In 2-Player mode, two dinosaurs run simultaneously on the same screen facing the same obstacles. Player 1 uses Space or Up arrow to jump and Down arrow to duck, exactly as in solo mode. Player 2 uses the W key to jump and S key to duck. Both dinos share the same scrolling ground and obstacle sequence — there is no separate track. The game continues until both dinos have collided with obstacles; the last dino still running wins that round. Win totals for each player are tracked in localStorage, so you can play a series of matches and see cumulative wins. The dinos are visually distinguished by color.
Why do I keep colliding with obstacles that seem to miss me visually?
The Dinosaur Game uses forgiving hitboxes that are inset approximately 18-22% from the visible sprite edges. This means the actual collision zone is smaller than what you see on screen. Even with these forgiving margins, the pixel-art sprite can be misleading — particularly for pterodactyls whose wing tips extend well beyond the hitbox, and for cactus clusters that look wider than they actually are. Enable Hitbox Debug in Settings to see the exact collision rectangles drawn in blue (dinosaur) and red (obstacles). This visual aid is invaluable for learning exactly how close you can safely pass each obstacle type.
Are my scores saved permanently? Can I see all-time stats?
Your scores are saved in your browser's localStorage, which persists across browser sessions on the same device and browser. The Leaderboard shows your top 5 all-time scores along with the date and speed mode of each run. Your overall highest score is shown in the HUD as 'HI' during every game. In 2-Player mode, win totals for each player are also stored separately. Note that clearing your browser's browsing data, cookies, or site data will erase these saved scores. Scores are stored locally only and do not sync to any server or between devices.