Microsoft Edge has a cute game to play when you're offline
It's more advanced than jumping a dinosaur over cactuses.
Microsoft is determined to one-up Google where possible with its Chromium-based Edge browser, and that includes one of the most important areas: the cute mini-game you can play when you’re offline. After a few months of previews, Microsoft has updated Edge with a new Surf game (available at any time by plugging edge://surf into the address bar) that harkens back to the old SkiFree game from Windows’ past. This is decidedly more sophisticated than jumping a dinosaur over cactus plants in Chrome — you can take it surprisingly seriously for a game that’s supposed to tide you over for a few minutes.
At its heart, it’s an endless runner where you surf around obstacles and stay one step ahead of a kraken. There are also objective-based time trial and zig zag (really, slalom) modes, though. You can also use a variety of input that includes your mouse, keyboard, touch or even a gamepad with haptic feedback. High visibility and low-speed modes help with the difficulty, and there are promises of “a few secrets.”
You probably won’t get Edge just for Surf, of course, but the game does show that Microsoft is invested in its latest browser on a level where it’s sweating the small details. If nothing else, it gives you an easy way to kill time while you’re waiting for your modem to reboot.
