Dino Runner – Endless Runner Game

1. Introduction

Dino Runner – Endless Runner Game Clone is a Unity-based recreation of the classic browser game popularly known as “Chrome Dino.” The project was developed as a technical and creative exercise to demonstrate core competencies in game design, programming, and production workflows within a 2D environment.

The game features a procedurally generated endless track, responsive player controls, dynamic obstacle spawning, score tracking, and progressive difficulty scaling. It was developed as a solo project with the goal of showcasing both technical mastery of Unity’s tools and an understanding of player experience design.

This case study outlines the complete development process, from conceptualization to implementation and refinement. It also examines key challenges, design decisions, and lessons learned throughout the project, providing an in-depth look at the workflow behind creating a polished, endlessly replayable 2D game.

2. Concept and Design Goals

The inspiration for Dino Runner came from the minimalist yet addictive “No Internet” game integrated into the Google Chrome browser. Its simplicity, scalability, and tight gameplay loop made it an ideal subject for replication and expansion within Unity.

The primary design goals for this project were:

• Faithful Recreation: Capture the look, pacing, and feel of the original Chrome Dino while building all systems from scratch.
• Endless Procedural Gameplay: Implement a continuous scrolling world with procedurally spawned obstacles.
• Responsive Controls: Deliver tight, reliable jumping mechanics that reward timing and precision.
• Difficulty Scaling: Introduce gradual increases in speed and challenge to maintain long-term engagement.
• Clean, Modular Architecture: Develop reusable, well-documented scripts following solid game development practices.

These goals guided both the design philosophy and technical structure of the project, emphasizing clarity, control, and maintainability.

3. Development Process

3.1 Project Setup

The project was created in Unity using the 2D template. The game world consisted of a static camera focused on a horizontally scrolling environment. Key components included the player character, ground tiles, obstacle prefabs, and a dynamic background layer to simulate depth.

Initial tasks included setting up sprite assets, defining collision layers, and configuring physics parameters to ensure predictable interactions. Early prototypes focused on getting basic jumping and gravity behaviors feeling responsive and natural.

3.2 Player Movement and Physics

The PlayerController script governed the character’s movement and jump mechanics. Input detection used Unity’s Input System to capture key presses and apply vertical force via the Rigidbody2D component. Jump behavior was refined through extensive playtesting to balance jump height, duration, and gravity scale for maximum responsiveness.

A grounded detection system, implemented using raycasts, ensured that the player could only jump while touching the ground, preventing unintended multi-jumps. To enhance player feedback, a simple animation cycle was introduced to simulate running motion, and a subtle squash-and-stretch effect added visual dynamism to jumps.

3.3 World Generation and Scrolling System

The endless environment was achieved by implementing a tile recycling system. Instead of spawning infinite terrain, ground tiles moved leftward at a constant rate, and once off-screen, they were repositioned to the right side of the scene. This created the illusion of continuous motion without performance overhead.

Obstacle spawning was handled by a Spawner script, which instantiated objects such as cacti or flying enemies at randomized intervals and positions. Object pooling was employed to efficiently reuse obstacles, minimizing instantiation costs during gameplay.

3.4 Scoring and Difficulty Scaling

A GameManager controlled game flow, score calculation, and difficulty progression. The player’s score increased over time based on distance traveled, and game speed incrementally increased at regular score thresholds to elevate challenge.

A simple yet effective feedback system was added to enhance player motivation: the background color subtly shifted as the score increased, creating visual variation and signaling progress subconsciously.

3.5 Game Loop and UI

The UI displayed the current score and high score using Unity’s Canvas system. On collision with an obstacle, the game transitioned into a “Game Over” state, halting motion and displaying replay options. The player could restart immediately with a single key press, maintaining flow and engagement.

4. Technical Implementation

4.1 Core Architecture

The game was designed using a modular architecture with clear script responsibilities:

• PlayerController: Handles input, physics, and animation.
• GroundScroller: Manages background and ground tile recycling.
• ObstacleSpawner: Controls timing and placement of obstacles using an object pool.
• GameManager: Oversees game states, score tracking, and difficulty scaling.
• UIManager: Updates score display and manages restart transitions.

This modularity ensured clean separation of logic and made debugging or feature additions straightforward.

4.2 Physics and Movement Logic

The player’s jump system was physics-driven, using a constant upward impulse upon input and controlled fall speed through gravity scaling. Key parameters like jump force and gravity were tuned to achieve responsive yet challenging gameplay.

To prevent inconsistent physics behavior at varying frame rates, all physics-related operations were handled in FixedUpdate(). The result was smooth and predictable character motion that felt satisfying and fair.

4.3 Procedural Generation and Object Pooling

To simulate endless variety, obstacles were randomly selected from a pool of prefabs with slight variations in spacing and type. Object pooling prevented performance spikes by recycling inactive obstacles instead of creating new ones

The system was designed for extensibility — additional obstacle types or environmental elements could easily be added without rewriting the spawning logic.

4.4 Game State and UI Management

Game states (playing, paused, game over) were managed through a central GameManager using simple enumerations. Transitions between states were triggered by collision events and input checks.

UI updates occurred in real-time, with scores updated per frame and high scores saved using Unity’s PlayerPrefs for persistence between sessions.

4.5 Optimization and Testing

Performance optimization focused on maintaining high frame rates on both desktop and mobile builds. Object pooling, sprite batching, and disabling unnecessary physics calculations ensured efficient memory usage and consistent performance.

Testing involved iterative play sessions to calibrate difficulty progression and collision sensitivity. Edge cases — such as overlapping obstacles or false game-over triggers — were identified and resolved through systematic debugging.

5. Challenges and Problem-Solving

5.1 Maintaining Gameplay Feel

A significant challenge was replicating the precise “feel” of the original Chrome Dino game. Small differences in jump force or acceleration drastically affected playability. This was addressed through incremental tuning and player feedback, focusing on responsiveness and smoothness.

5.2 Balancing Difficulty Progression

Early iterations either ramped up difficulty too quickly or too slowly. A dynamic scaling curve based on time rather than score was implemented, producing a smoother progression that kept players engaged for longer runs.

5.3 Collision Accuracy

Ensuring accurate collision detection between the player and obstacles required careful collider setup and testing. Using polygon colliders for detailed shapes and adjusting their offsets prevented unfair hits and improved player trust in the mechanics.

6. Iteration and Playtesting

The game underwent multiple iterations to refine player experience. Early prototypes focused on core mechanics, while later builds emphasized polish and feedback.

Playtesting led to key improvements:

• Adjusted jump height and timing for better control.
• Introduced a short grace period at game start to prevent instant collisions.
• Added subtle acceleration to create a sense of increasing challenge.
• Enhanced visual feedback through background color transitions and simple animations.

This iterative approach ensured the game evolved toward a balanced and enjoyable experience.

7. Final Outcome

The final version of Dino Runner successfully met its design and technical objectives:

• Smooth, consistent, and responsive controls.
• Seamless endless world generation with efficient object pooling.
• Progressive difficulty and dynamic feedback systems.
• Lightweight, scalable codebase suitable for future extensions.

The game delivers a polished and replayable experience that effectively demonstrates mastery of Unity’s 2D systems, procedural generation techniques, and iterative design principles.

8. Insights and Lessons Learned

Developing Dino Runner provided valuable insights into both the technical and creative dimensions of game development:

• Simplicity Requires Precision: Minimalist designs demand exacting polish; small imperfections are easily noticeable.
• Procedural Systems Demand Structure: Robust pooling and spawn logic are essential for maintaining both performance and gameplay integrity.
• Iteration Drives Quality: Frequent testing and refinement are critical to achieving satisfying game feel.
• Balance Between Art and Engineering: Every technical choice — from jump physics to UI transitions — impacts player experience.

These lessons reinforced best practices in modular design, physics-based gameplay tuning, and structured iteration cycles, all of which are applicable to future, larger-scale projects.

9. Future Improvements

Future development directions include:

• Additional Environments: Introduce new biome themes or weather effects to enhance visual diversity.
• Power-ups and Collectibles: Add temporary invincibility, score multipliers, or other mechanics for increased variety.
• AI-Driven Difficulty: Implement adaptive difficulty that responds to player performance.
• Mobile Optimization: Enhance touch controls and UI scaling for mobile platforms.

These improvements would extend the game’s depth and demonstrate further technical and creative evolution.

10. Conclusion

Dino Runner – Endless Runner Game Clone exemplifies a complete, end-to-end game development process encompassing design, programming, iteration, and optimization. Through this project, I strengthened my understanding of Unity’s 2D toolset, object pooling systems, and physics-based control design.

The project also reinforced the value of iterative development — building, testing, and refining until gameplay feels both fair and rewarding. The final product stands as a concise yet technically rich demonstration of my ability to translate design intent into an engaging, polished interactive experience.