Google Chrome's 'Unable to connect to the Internet' page has a hidden endless runner game

Game can be played offline while you wait for connection

Christopher Hooton
Friday 26 September 2014 10:49 EDT
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Google has attempted to inject a little mindless joy into the pain of being disconnected from the internet, concealing an endless runner game into its latest Chrome build starring its error page dinosaur.

The game works when you're offline, meaning there is at least something to distract you while you reset the router and await precious internet.

The game is activated by hitting the space bar, turning the error page into a very basic desert plain covered with cacti that Chrome's T-Rex must hurdle.

Here's how the page used to look:

Here's the new one:

And here's what happens when you hit space:

You can rank up points on the game with mini-celebrations for every hundred you attain, although everything resets when you refresh (by which point you've hopefully regained connection, or found a better use of your time).

Websites and developers are slowly realising that error pages needn't be dead space, as evidenced by the wide array of weird and wonderful 404 pages now out there.

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