Although the worldwide web seems to be getting better and better in terms of quality, every now and then everyone still encounters those frustrating moments where you see the “unable to connect” page before you. As most of you probably know already, this issue arises when there is a problem with you internet connection. It can be a malfunctioning router that needs to be restarted, some malware on your computer or there might be a problem with your ISP (also known as internet service provider). There is no sure way to avoid this issue completely; except for maybe getting a really stable and fast ISP (these are usually very rare).
Recognizing this problem, Google has decided to do something that might cheer you up during the absence of your beloved worldwide web. If you are using Google Chrome canary (this is the latest version of this particular browser) and get that frustrating window again that says “Unable to connect”, you can still entertain yourself by playing a pretty simple runner style game that has no end. “Is there anything else?” you might ask. Why yes, of course! You also play the game as Google’s Mascot of sorts, which is a giant dinosaur!
The official dinosaur of Chrome
Even though you might not remember him, I’m sure you have seen this particular creature on numerous occasions while browsing the internet. For example, in the previous versions it showed as an inanimate icon when you received the same “Unable to connect” error. And look where he is now. Important note: you cannot actually play this game when you connected to the internet. There are no copies of this page available (as far as I know) on the internet; Google has made sure of that.
Now I wanted to talk about the game itself for a bit. It is a very straight forward game where you control a T-Rex (obviously) that is trying to cross an endless desert-like area. The only obstacles in your way are these nasty looking patches of cacti (plural for cactus). If you collide with even one of them, the game is considered to be over and you may try your luck again. You will have to start all the way from the beginning, though. The game records all of your stats, such as the amount of time you have played, your high scores, the amount of retries and so on. However, these stats last only as long as you have the browser window open. It does not sync them with your Google account and you lose them once you close your browser.
Overall, this is a very innovative idea and I, personally, like it quite a lot since you can vent your frustration of not having that precious internet onto the game, rather than people around you. The creator of this game (Francois Beaufort) said that the whole idea behind this was to provide the user with some company.
Google Canary is the latest version of this line of browsers. It is only available to developers and early adopters as of today.