I’m Addicted to Dino Run

It’s time for a confession: I’m addicted to Pixel Jam’s Dino Run.  What’s Dino Run, you ask?  Oh you fortunate people, you.  Needing to ask…. instead of being hooked on an online video game.

The premise to Dino Run is very simple.  You run a little dinosaur from the start of the stage to the end.  The control scheme is simple enough: left (or A button) and right (D) arrow move the little dude left and right.  Up arrow (W)  makes him jump, down arrow (S) makes him crouch.  Let’s talk about the last two first shall we?

Crouching as your dinosaur runs will allow you to pick up the occasional small critter, as well as various pick ups such as super speed and super strength (invincibility).  The critters themselves are worth “bones”, which will allow you to unlock various playable stages as well as a few downloadable items such as wallpaper for your computer.

Jumping comes in real handy, as the course is littered with other dinosaurs, such as the triceratops, stegosaurus, and pteranodon.  The first two are obstacles, while the last sometime helps you over the rocky terrain (and other times knocks you back.  Yeep.)  There are also a great number of holes and the occasional tar pit that need traversing.

Also in your path are dinosaur eggs, which are located on the ground and (sometimes) in trees.  My first time through, I avoided these babies… excuse the pun… for fear of having a negative impact on my score.  Do not be so foolish.  Pick up enough eggs and you’ll get a Time Sift (Extra Life)

And you’ll need it.  For while your little dino can’t be hurt by great falls, triceratops feet, or even lava, it does face an unbeatable adversary.  At the begining of the first stage, you’ll see this rather large piece of space rock slam into the earth.  This sends up a pyroclastic wall of doom that will ingulf your poor little dude if it tarries too long in any location.  You can out run the wall (it’s the object of the game, after all), but…  It’s best not to let it appear on the screen.

Graphic-wise, Dino Run harks back to an earlier age.  One with really simple graphics.  Not Atari 2600 simple mind you.  But that was my first thought on seeing them.  Still, for what they are, they’re pretty good.

Well, kind of good.

Look, modern computer graphic make these look pathetic, okay?  But the game’s worth playing.

There are other bits of info that I could share, but I’d rather not spoil things.   Try it out for yourself.  Or not.  As I said, I’m a bit addicted to the game.  Been playing it every day since I found out about it.  Maybe you’d better avoid it…