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Google celebrates 10 years of Chrome w/ birthday edition Dino Game easter egg

Back in 2008, Google Chrome was revealed to the world via a comic book that detailed the new open source browser. To mark its 10th anniversary this month, Google has updated and themed the whimsical Offline Dino Game.

An Easter Egg, this mini-game appears when you have no internet connection and try visiting a page. Chrome initially displays a standard “No internet” page that suggests users try “Checking the network cables, modem, and router” or “Reconnecting to Wi-Fi.”

However, pressing the space bar (or tapping on mobile) will start an 8-bit side scroller involving the tyrannosaurus in the upper-left corner. The dinosaur starts running through a desert landscape with the space bar helping him avoid obstacles like rocks and cacti. Your score is in the upper-right corner, with the browser remembering high scores for that session.

The birthday edition allows the dinosaur to collect a birthday cake and wear a party hat, while the background features balloons. This easter egg will be themed for the entire month of September.

Available on both desktop and mobile, the game features retro game sounds as the dinosaur jumps. Being offline on a desktop is still a scourge, but the Android app has featured Offline page downloads since last year.

This is likely just the start of the anniversary, with Google already noting that a “Material Design refresh” is coming this month “across all operating systems” with Chrome 69.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com