What is Google Chrome’s T-Rex?

We understand that the world wide web is a big, scary thing for most people, so each month we’ll try to take a word, acronym or phrase and explain to you in simple, ‘non-techie’ terms what it all means. This is DBG’s Digital Definition of the Month.

This month we haven’t exactly got a word for you…. but we want to explain a little prehistoric feature that appears when your internet connection is lost while using Google Chrome:

t-rex

The cute little T-Rex that appears in the Google Chrome web browser is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the internet being out of reach at this time.  The fun part about it now is that as of September 2014, Google developer Francois Beaufort has created a little game for you to play while you wait for your internet connection to be reinstated.

Simply click the ‘space’ bar on your keyboard when the little T-Rex appears, and off he goes.  He’ll run on those little legs, with cacti appearing in his path, and you’ll need to use the ‘space’ bar to jump those cacti.  Be warned:  he gets faster the further along you get!

t-rex-game

While losing your internet connection is quite frustrating, this little game makes it almost bearable.  In fact, you may even be slightly disappointed when the page re-loads!

What’s your high score?