Interview With the Creators of Dino Run

Ok here’s the game: You are a small pixilated yellow dinosaur and the apocalypse is coming. Then you run!

Dino Run is a rare gem in the world of simple browser based games. The game is instantly accesible and surprisingly addictive. Everyone I have introduced to this game has spent the next several hours trying to save this intrepid little dino.

In a nutshell the game starts with your dino standing in the middle of the screen. If you do nothing the screen soon darkens and a giant wall of death comes crashing in from the left killing you. Your job is outrun this certain death and deal with all of the obstacles that jump up in your way.

The game controls are simple: right arrow runs you right, up arrow makes you jump, down arrow makes you crouch and left arrow makes you run left. (NES snobs are getting out their electric toothbrushes.)

The first time you realize you can upgrade your dino is a revelation. You can make your dino faster, stronger, jump higher, etc.

The game has the ability to increase the difficulty and it has tons of hidden achievments and additional challenges to unlock. Once you create a character the webpage remembers you and you can return to improve your dino whenever you like. Check out the game HERE.

I got the chance to ask a few questions of the team at Pixel Jam about their great little game:

What is your favorite video game? Why?

Rich: That really depends and it also changes. Different games satisfy
different aspects of what I enjoy about games. Classics include (originals or
their sequels) such as Adventure, River Raid, Yars Revenge, Pitfall,
Kaboom, Hero, Combat, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Utopia, Time
Pilot, Robotron 2084, Dig Dug, Joust, Marble Madness, Arkanoid, Alien
Syndrome, Ikari Warriors, Bruce Lee, Choplifter, Kings Quest,
Castlevania, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Metroid, Metal Gear
Solid, Mega Man,Tetris, Metroid, Maniac Mansion, Duck Tails, Shinobi,
Super Street Fighter II, EA NHL ’96, Sonic the Hedghog, Mario Kart,
Toejam and Earl, Flashback, Desert Strike, Phantasy Star, Dark
Forces/Jedi Knight. Newer games might be (also including their
sequels) Katamari Damacy, Burnout, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Shadows
of the Colossus, GTA 3 – GTA IV, Bully, SSX & other good snowboarding
games, Rogue Leader, Star Wars Racer, Banjoe and Kazooie, Rock Band,
Beyond Good and Evil, Bioshock, Uncharted, Batman Arkham Asylum, Pain,
Red Dead Redemption. Indie games include VVVVVV, Closure,
Flywrench, World of Goo, Pixeljunk Shooter, Braid, Crayon Physics
Deluxe, Everyday Shooter, Spelunky, Fez, Canabalt, Swords and
Sorcery..

Hmm, I’m sure there’s many I’m leaving out.

Miles: Mine’s a toss up between Robotron and Marble Madness. newer
favorites would probably be Katamari and watching Rich play Red Dead
Redemption

What is it that makes a truly good game?

Rich: It may depend on the game type, so good design in all areas
would be my quick answer. More specifically, I suppose an engaging
game mechanic or two, a good balance of risk/reward, charm/appealing
graphics, solid controls, good sounds & music. A character or
characters with unique personality that a player can feel attached to
in the case of some game types. Well designed enough to reduce
frustration that sometimes comes from a game like wasting the players
time, poor controls, bad camera intelligence, clunky & non-intuitive
interface of the game.

Miles: Hmmmm… thats a tough one. I suppose if the game helps me
forget myself, then that’s a bonus. But not in a zombified kind of
way, more like a “I am the main character” type of way.

What was the inspiration for this game?

Rich: Probably Dinosaurs themselves I’m not sure where the idea
came from. I was riding in a car on a road trip, brainstorming ideas
for very simple games & there it was. Dinosaurs running from a wall of
doom & running & jumping over obstacles. Even the name popped up from
the start.

One of the first sketches for the game

Why did you decide to go with the retro-look for your games?

Rich: That’s just the type of games we wanted to make when we first
started making games, and we’re still pretty into it. I guess partly
its because I grew up with Atari 2600 (I was born in 1972), and that
to me was amazing, cutting edge stuff. I think we got it when i was 9
or 10 or so.. I played so much, the pixel style has a warm and fuzzy
place in my heart & psyche. It seemed like game graphics progressed
into hi-res and 3-D so quickly and left this simple style in the dust.
It still felt like there was so much more untapped potential here. So
much opportunity to focus more on gameplay and not rely so heavily on
graphics & complexity to pull the weight of a game.

Your games are featured on Adult Swim and for Sarah Silverman’s program.
What has been the key to your success thus far?

Rich: Well, we released Dino Run and it got a lot of attention and a
lot of players. A couple months after its release Comedy Central and
Adult Swim contacted us independently out of the blue & asked if we
wanted to make a game for them. We just got lucky I suppose.

What is the worst game you have either played or made?

Miles: so many bad games out there, it’s hard to pick a worst. Out
of this World though is one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played. It looks great
though… well at least the first 3 screens. since that’s all i could
get past.

Finally, are there any sequels in store for this game?

Rich: Yeah, it would be great to make a sequel. I’ve got some
specific ideas for a sequel that I think will make it a lot better in
both single and multiplayer modes. The original came out well, but it
still feels somewhat like a sketch of the game I really wanted to
produce, once we got into development & I got to some more
brainstorming about the game & its features. Lots of things had to be
left out. Yes, I have had the idea of a sequel featuring present day
city levels, where they emerge from their sanctuaries and have to run
from some sort of present day doom threat (nuclear blast, new asteroid
impact, etc), and chomp on people as they go. I think that would be
best for a Dino Run 3, so Dino run 2 can still take place in the same
time period but have a greater variety of terrains, dinosaurs,
challenges & features, with slightly enhanced graphics (not the pixel
resolution or Dino design, but maybe add one or two extra levels of
color). Also, our programming/game engine-making abilities these days
are much better than what we could do at the time.

In the meantime, we are working on Dino Run for iphone. It’s something
like a port, but is being rebuilt from the ground up and will feature
some new areas, challenges & hats. It’s kind of like Dino Run 1.5. I’m
not sure when that will be ready, but hopefully before the end of
2010.

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