How to Make a Dino Game (Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)

Creating your own Dino game—similar to the famous offline browser game—is a fun and rewarding way to learn web development. In this complete guide, you’ll learn how to build a simple endless runner game using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from scratch.

Whether you’re a beginner or someone improving your coding skills, this tutorial will walk you through everything step by step.

Here’s a visual idea of what you will build:

📌 What is a Dino Game?

The Dino game is a simple endless runner where a dinosaur runs automatically, and the player must jump over obstacles like cacti. The game gets faster over time, increasing difficulty.

A popular version of this game appears in Google Chrome offline mode.

👉 Learn more about browser games: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Games

🎯 What You Will Learn

By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

Create a game layout using HTML
Style your game with CSS
Add game logic using JavaScript
Implement jumping mechanics
Detect collisions
Add score tracking
Increase game difficulty

🧰 Prerequisites

Before starting, you should have basic knowledge of:

HTML
CSS
JavaScript

📁 Step 1: Project Setup

Create a new folder named:

dino-game

Inside it, create three files:

index.html

style.css

script.js

🏗️ Step 2: HTML Structure

Open index.html and add the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

</head>

<body>

</div>

</body>

</html>

🎨 Step 3: CSS Styling

Open style.css and write:

.game {

width: 600px;

height: 200px;

border: 1px solid black;

margin: auto;

overflow: hidden;

}

#dino {

width: 40px;

height: 40px;

background: green;

position: relative;

top: 160px;

}

#cactus {

width: 20px;

height: 40px;

background: red;

position: relative;

top: 120px;

left: 580px;

animation: moveCactus 2s infinite linear;

}

@keyframes moveCactus {

0% { left: 580px; }

100% { left: -20px; }

}

.jump {

animation: jump 0.5s;

}

@keyframes jump {

0% { top: 160px; }

50% { top: 100px; }

100% { top: 160px; }

}

⚙️ Step 4: JavaScript Logic

Now open script.js:

let dino = document.getElementById("dino");

let cactus = document.getElementById("cactus");

function jump() {

if (!dino.classList.contains("jump")) {

dino.classList.add("jump");

setTimeout(function () {

dino.classList.remove("jump");

}, 500);

}

document.addEventListener("keydown", function (event) {

jump();

});

💥 Step 5: Collision Detection

Add this code below your script:

let isAlive = setInterval(function () {

let dinoTop = parseInt(window.getComputedStyle(dino).getPropertyValue("top"));

let cactusLeft = parseInt(window.getComputedStyle(cactus).getPropertyValue("left"));

if (cactusLeft < 50 && cactusLeft > 0 && dinoTop >= 140) {

alert("Game Over!");

}

}, 10);

📈 Step 6: Add Score System

Add a score counter in HTML:

Then update JavaScript:

let score = 0;

setInterval(function () {

score++;

document.getElementById("score").innerText = score;

}, 100);

🚀 Step 7: Increase Difficulty

Modify cactus animation speed:

let speed = 2;

setInterval(function () {

speed -= 0.01;

cactus.style.animation = `moveCactus ${speed}s infinite linear`;

}, 1000);

🎮 Step 8: Restart Game

Improve Game Over logic:

if (cactusLeft < 50 && cactusLeft > 0 && dinoTop >= 140) {

cactus.style.animation = "none";

alert("Game Over! Score: " + score);

location.reload();

}

🔗 Useful Resource (Outbound Link)

For deeper understanding of JavaScript game development, check this:

👉 https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Games/Techniques/2D_collision_detection

💡 Tips to Improve Your Game

Add sound effects 🎵
Use real dinosaur images 🦖
Add mobile touch support 📱
Create multiple obstacles
Add start/restart button

🧠 Conclusion

Building a Dino game is a great beginner project that teaches:

Game logic
Animation
Event handling
DOM manipulation

You now have a fully working endless runner game! From here, you can expand it into a more advanced game with better graphics and features.

🔥 Final Words

Practice is the key to mastering game development. Start small, improve step by step, and soon you’ll be able to create more advanced games.

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