Someone Built a Physical IRL Version of Chrome’s Offline Dinosaur Jumping Game
Over a single weekend, Uri and Ariella managed to build a real-life version of the game at GeekCon.
If you’re lucky enough to have a stable internet connection then you might not have ever seen it, but the Google Chrome web browser has an adorable little video game built-in. If you attempt to load a website without an internet connection, the game will automatically pop up and give you something to do while your modem and router restart. The game is simple, and the only thing to do is make sure your Tyrannosaurus rex avatar jumps over the deadly cacti as it runs through the desert. Over a weekend, Uri and Ariella managed to build a real-life version of the game at GeekCon.
GeekCon is annual “summer camp for geeks” at which attendees make all kinds of projects. Uri and Ariella wanted something challenging, and decided to make a real-life version of the Google Chrome T-Rex video game. With just a couple of components ordered in advanced, they spent the weekend hackathon constructing their prototype. The game features a dino cutout that “jumps” up when a button is pressed, and cacti moving along a track that players have to leap over. The prototype wasn’t exactly reliable, but it was a big hit and the Google Chrome developer team ended up inviting Uri and Ariella to the Chrome Dev Summit to present the game.
With just a month until the event, Uri spent all of his free time improving the game. Everything is programmed in JavaScript, and the code is running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W. Stepper motors are used to move the dinosaur up and down and the cacti around a 3D-printed track loop. Unlike the original prototype, this version actually keeps score. A magnetic sensor is used to detect if one of the cacti is at the dino’s position. If it is, and the dino is jumping, then the player’s score will be increased. If it reaches that position and the poor t-rex is still on the ground, then it’s game over. The game was a huge success at the Chrome Dev Summit, and was played almost a thousand times. Now it’s being used as a decorative clock that displays the time on the scoreboard.