''Dino Run'' is a

Flash game A browser game is a video game that is played on the internet using a web browser. They are sometimes referred to more specifically by their format, such as Flash games or HTML5 games. They are generally free-to-play and can be either single-play ...

created by PixelJAM and XGen Studios, released on April 30, 2008. The player steers a ''

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in th ...

'' through increasingly dangerous side-scrolling landscapes to escape an impending "wall of doom". The game uses simple pixel art and 8-bit sound to replicate the style of 1980s arcade games. ''Dino Run'' was conceived by PixelJAM co-founder Richard Grillotti while he was sketching dinosaurs. Expanded and improved versions of the game were later released for

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

, PC, and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

under the titles ''Dino Run SE'' (2011) and ''Dino Run DX'' (2015).

Reception

Legacy

Two additional games, ''Dino Run: Marathon of Doom'' (2011) and ''Dino Run: Enter Planet D'' (2013), were released as stand-alone titles. In November 2013, PixelJam launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

fundraising campaign to finance development of ''Dino Run 2''. The game would introduce new dinosaurs, including

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

Parasaurolophus ''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "beside crested lizard" in reference to ''Saurolophus'') is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, a ...

Pachycephalosaurus ''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thickness", ''kephalon/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid ornithischian dinosaur. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', ...

, and

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

. The fundraiser sought $175,000, but ended a month later, raising only $83,476. Another Kickstarter campaign succeeded in being funded in 2018, with a projected release date in November 2019. As of March 2025, the sequel remains unreleased.

References

External links

*{{MobyGames, id=/dino-run 2008 video games Flash games Indie games PixelJAM Games games Retro-style video games Side-scrolling video games Single-player video games Video games about dinosaurs Video games developed in the United States XGen Studios games