Prehistoric Appeal

You probably had a favorite dinosaur as a kid. We all did! The appeal of the giant lizards is undeniable. Even as children, we’re fascinated by them. They seem to bridge the gap between the fantasy world and the real word, as fantastical as any dragon, but appearing in our science textbooks.

It's no surprise that so many films, books and video games feature dinosaurs. And, given that a lot of dinosaurs were carnivorous, and many were big enough to swallow you whole, they make for great enemies in all kinds of stories. Maybe it’s scientific curiosity, or maybe it’s just the exciting idea of something higher on the food chain than you!

The Real Deal

Dinosaurs were so much bigger than us that it can be hard to believe that they really existed. Some dinosaurs were almost 40 meters in length. Others were up to eighteen meters tall—as tall as a six-story building! No land creature today comes anywhere close to the largest dinosaurs. Even the mighty elephant is tiny in comparison.

Despite all of the rock-solid evidence of dinosaurs, the thought of them living on Earth still feels like something from a fairy tale or legend. It doesn’t help that they all died out such a long time ago! In fact, it wasn’t until 65 million years after the last dinosaur had vanished from the Earth that early humans appeared. Dinosaurs and humans are literally from different worlds, so it’s no wonder that they fascinate us.

The End of The Kingdom of Lizards

If you’ve been lucky enough to see the skeleton of a big dinosaur in a museum, you would have been awe-struck at the sight. They are towering beasts and you realize in an instant why they were the rulers of the Earth for so many millions of years.

But nothing lasts forever, and the reign of the giant lizards was no exception. A giant meteor struck the Earth and wiped them out and today, nothing remains of them but fossilized bones.

And birds! Because, although when you hear “dinosaur” you probably think of a colossal lizard, birds are technically dinosaurs—direct descendants of creatures that lived with the “real” dinosaurs but survived the meteor strike.

Dino-Games

In video games, we’ve been running away from dinosaurs, shooting at dinosaurs, even keeping dinosaurs in zoos, for generations. And we’re still not tired of it! There are dinosaur games slated for release this year, and there were plenty last year. Dino games work because dinosaurs work in video games. Everything about them fits the video game format.

Turok

Released in 1997, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for the Nintendo 64 is probably the reason that there are still dinosaur games today. The title pushed the 64 to its limits and often beyond, featuring;

Gameplay as crisp as any of the big corridor shooters,
The beginning of open world exploration
Truly impressive graphics, featuring animations and levels of detail that critics loved.
A well-developed story, which was based on a popular series of comic books from the fifties.

But most importantly, Turok featured dinosaurs! Of course it did—how could it not with that title?

Turok, a first-person shooter featuring dinosaurs as a main source of threat, was an incredible success. Not only did it sell enough copies to save its developer, but it was also the first shooter for the N64 console and the first shooter on any console to draw positive comparisons with PC shooters. It wasn’t just a game-changer, it was a platform-changer!

It was a first. You could even say it ushered in a second age of dinosaurs…

Demons to Dinosaurs

We’d already fought demons in Doom and alien monsters in Quake, so maybe it was only a matter of time before dinosaurs got their turn to shine. The late nineties was that time;

1996 - Dinosaurs played a big role in the original Tomb Raider games, the first of which was released this year. The first three all featured a T-Rex as a boss character. The second one required players to do battle with the king of tyrant lizards not once, but twice!
1997 - Capcom released their own dinosaur-themed game in the form of Dino Crisis. Crisis was a totally different game, playing much more like one of their much-loved Resident Evil series. It was a survival horror that used the idea of dinosaurs as enemies to great effect, with the dinosaurs you faced reacting quickly, cleverly and very violently. The approach was so successful at scaring players that the games company called it “panic horror”

Dinosaurs don’t always have to be scary. Mario’s friend Yoshi has been starring in his own games since the early 1990s, and he’s made guest appearances as a racing driver, a tennis player, and a friendly companion.

Dinosaur Games on Gamepix

Dinosaurs are a staple of our free online browser games, too. Here at Gamepix, you’ll find a really wide range of unlocked games featuring dinosaurs. Some of them are just minor characters, some of them are the stars of the show. Whatever kind of dinosaur browser game you choose, you can play on any device that has a web browser, and you can play as many games as you like, for as long as you like, wherever you like, totally free!

FAQs

Are dinosaur games free?

Our online dinosaur games are! We have a huge selection for you to choose from. Whether you want to play as a dinosaur or a dinosaur hunter, we’ve got you covered. Our browser dinosaur games come in every conceivable art style so there’s something for every mood, as long as the mood is prehistoric.

Can I play dinosaur games at home?

You can play them anywhere you like! All of our free dinosaur games can be played on any device with a web browser, which means your phone or tablet. Play at your desk, in bed, in the bath or on the top of a mountain. If you can get online, you can play one.

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