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Geometry Dash
2013 music-based platformer video game From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Geometry Dash is a side-scrolling platformer video game created by Swedish game developer Robert Topala. It was released on 13 August 2013 for iOS and Android, with versions for Windows and macOS following on 22 December 2014. The player takes control of an icon and must navigate through music-based levels while avoiding obstacles. The game includes 26 full-length levels created by the developer: 22 are auto-scrolling, and 4 are traditional platformer levels. The game includes a level creation system, enabling players to design custom levels, share them online, and play levels created by other users. Players can collect in-game currency—such as stars, moons, coins, mana orbs and diamonds—from official and user-generated levels or chests to unlock customization options for their icon.
Topala release his first game, Bounce Ball Thingy, on Newgrounds in June 2010 while at university. As he continued to develop games, he quit his course to pursue his career as a game developer, releasing a handful of games prior to Geometry Dash. He began development of the game in early 2013, being inspired off of other titles such as The Impossible Game and Super Meat Boy. He published Geometry Dash in August 2013 and it quickly gained popularity. Since its release, the games has seen numerous updates that have added new gameplay and design elements, levels, icons, and features.
The game has received mostly positive reviews from critics, highlighting the large variety of music, colorful visuals, and extremely difficult but rewarding gameplay. The level creating feature has also been the subject of high praise, and has spawned a large and growing community of players that have created many millions of online levels, including challenges, art projects, and even recreating other video games inside of levels.
Three spin-off games accompany the main series: Geometry Dash Meltdown, Geometry Dash World and Geometry Dash SubZero. Geometry Dash Lite is a free version of the main game released alongside the original that removes certain levels and icons, the level editor, and many online features. The other spin-offs have primarily served as teasers to updates in the main game, although feature their own levels and music separately.
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Gameplay
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Geometry Dash can be played using a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse or controller. The game's control scheme is extremely simple; there is only one button the player can use to control their icon, navigating through auto-scrolling levels until the end is reached.[1][2] The level restarts from the beginning if the player collides with an obstacle, such as a spike or wall. A 'practice mode' option allows checkpoints to be placed that the player can restart from, although this prevents the player from completing the level in 'normal mode'. In normal mode, the player can listen to a song that is unique to each level. The in-game music's timing and rhythm are crucial, often synchronizing with each level's gameplay and design elements.[1][3] Update 2.2 introduces the 'platformer' mode, where players move left or right without the auto-scrolling camera and access checkpoints without using practice mode.[4][5] Platformer mode features the same gamemodes as in regular Geometry Dash, with the exception of the 'wave' and the 'swing', which are absent, and the ship, which is replaced by the similarly functioning 'jetpack'. There are four official platformer levels which are located in a section of the game called 'The Tower'.[5]
Besides obstacles, other gameplay elements also affect the movement of the player icon, including portals, pads, and orbs that change the player's gravity, speed, size, and gamemode.[1][4][6] The player's gamemode, or vehicle, determines the motion of the player icon; for example, in the default "cube" gamemode, the player jumps a predetermined height upon a single input. The "ball" gamemode lets the player change gravity, while the "ship" gamemode allows the player to fly.[2][7]
The full version of Geometry Dash includes 26 main levels, 4 of which are platformer levels.[4][7] Each level is assigned one of six difficulties: "Easy", "Normal", "Hard", "Harder", "Insane", and "Demon".[2] Each main level contains three secret coins, requiring the player to take an alternate pathway to obtain them. There are three demon levels among the main levels, and the player must obtain a number of secret coins before they can be played.[1][8]
Beating levels will reward the player with various collectables, such as orbs, diamonds, keys, stars, moons, and more.[9] Orbs, diamonds and keys can be used to unlock customization options for the players icon, including the icon's design, primary and secondary colors, death explosion effects, and ship trails. Outside of levels, there are also shops and secret areas where customization options and other rewards may be purchased or unlocked.[9][10]
User-generated content
The full version of the game features the ability to upload and play user-created levels. These levels may use music from the official levels or feature custom music that can be imported from Newgrounds.[7] In update 2.2, 10 artists were gradually added to a new music library,[11] as well as over 1,500 song from the NCS (NoCopyrightSounds) library.[12] User-made levels of sufficient quality may be "rated" by Topala after being sent to him by an in-game moderator. Only rated levels award orbs, diamonds, stars, and moons. The amount awarded to the player corresponds to the difficulty of the level, and can only be obtained by making progress in the level. Certain user levels also have 'user coins', which are collected in a similar way to secret coins.[6] User-made "demon" levels are divided into five additional difficulties: 'Easy Demon', 'Medium Demon', 'Hard Demon', 'Insane Demon', and 'Extreme Demon'; many of them are significantly more challenging than the three official demon levels.[13]
Through the level editor, players have created millions of online levels. Some parts of the community are dedicated to making levels as difficult as possible,[14] and many players have created levels as artistic or creative projects.[2] Some players have recreated entire video games within the level editor, including Super Mario Kart, Five Night's at Freddy's, and Celeste, among others.[15]
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Development
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Pre-Geometry Dash
Geometry Dash was created by Swedish video game developer Robert Topala, known professionally as RobTop. On 6 June 2010, Topala created his first video game, Bounce Ball Thingy, on Newgrounds, developing it while he was at university studying civil engineering. He abandoned his course because he became more interested in the video game industry.[16] Topala decided to work alone, founding RobTop Games in 2012. The first video game he produced under RobTop Games was Boomlings, a puzzle video game released on 5 November 2012 for mobile devices.[17][18] Topala continued to create video games, including Memory Mastermind (2013) and Boomlings MatchUp (2013).[19][20]
According to Topala, the game began as a project that could have moved in any direction. He remarked, 'It simply started as a template with a cube that could crash and jump'; 'There really was no detailed plan'.[21] He previously developed it for the computer and later altered his plan and made attempts to make it a mobile game. Other games such as The Impossible Game, Super Meat Boy, and Bit.Trip Runner inspired Topala, and it took about four months to create the game and bring it to the App Store and Google Play Store.[21] In the beta version, the game was called Geometry Jump but later changed to Geometry Dash. The game is developed on the Cocos2d game engine.[22] A trailer was released on 29 April 2013, featuring a level using the song Ultimate Destruction (made by Tmm43). The song is not present in the final game due to copyright issues, and the level was later redesigned into the fifth official level, called Base after Base.[6]
Post-release
Since its release, the game has received several updates, adding new levels, game modes, player icons and other features. The first update, update 1.1, was released 2 months after release in October 2013 and introduced one new level, 'Time Machine' as well as new gameplay elements. Four more updates were released by the end of the year. The last of these updates, update 1.5, introduced the Demon difficulty for user levels, although Topala would not release any official Demon levels until update 1.6 in March 2014 which introduced the Demon level 'Clubstep'. Update 1.9, released later the same year, introduced the second official Demon level, 'Theory of Everything 2'. Update 2.0, released in August 2015, saw the third official Demon level released, 'Deadlocked', and also saw the introduction of user coins and movable objects.[6]
In January 2017, update 2.1 was released,[6] which would be the last major update the game would see for over six years. The next update, update 2.2, had been teased since late 2017 but was met with numerous delays.[23] Topala's progress on the update was kept largely secret, with only occasional sneak peaks being offered. The first sneak peak since 2017 was released in May 2019, showcasing some level editor mechanics.[6] Topala released Another sneak peak was released in August 2021, showcasing many new gameplay features and mechanics, including 'platformer mode'.[23] The update was teased again in a YouTube livestream celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the game, and revealed the release date to be October.[24] On 19 December 2023, 2.2 was released[15] which introduced the 'swing' game mode, five new levels, platformer mode, numerous level editor additions, and more.[4][5] After its release the game saw a massive spike in interest, bringing in a record high number of players on Steam.[25]
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Reception
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Geometry Dash has seen mostly positive reviews, with some considering it among the best platformers of its kind.[2][26][27]
The game's music, along with its graphics, have been highly praised. IGC writes that, although seemingly simple, the design of each level can coalesce into an amazing or confusing experience, noting the amount of "visual power" that could be made "out of 2 dimensions and basic color board".[26] An editor's review from Download.com similarly complemented the game's visuals, describing them as smooth, vibrant, and captivating.[28] David Ingrusee at Indie Hive said that the graphics have the potential to be "excessively beautiful", although that some levels' decoration was overly distracting.[7] The in-game music has been met with near-universal acclaim; Andrei Dobra at Softpedia described the music as "phenomenal", further praising how it "flawlessly" complements the game's action and level design.[1] Thomas Coop at 9meters similarly described the music and how it is incorporated into level design to create an immersive experience.[27] Critics have characterized the music as "fun",[2] "energetic",[2][27] and "vibrant",[28] with Ingrusee further commenting on the quantity of music available, writing that the player "could jump to the beat of literally any genre".[7]
The gameplay was also met with generally high regards. Both Downdload.com and Coop described the gameplay as "addicting",[27][28] with Ingrusee adding that players "would sink in hours into Geometry Dash" in order to complete a level.[7] Its high difficulty however has been criticized, Download.com stating that the precise timing required can be frustrating, and Dobra considering the game too difficult for some players to enjoy.[1][28] Ian Young at The Shield considered the difficulty of the Demon levels as far exceeding even the hardest Dark Souls bosses, a game infamous for its difficulty,[29] although still considered it enjoyable.[2] Bob Rich at 148Apps also considered the game to be frustratingly difficult, although argues "that’s sort of the point", and that the satisfaction of completing a level still made the experience worth it.[30]
Sales
Geometry Dash quickly gained popularity after its release. In June 2014, it had already become the most popular paid iPhone app in Canada.[31] By 2018, the mobile version had earned an estimated $21 million in revenue and received 242 million downloads.[32] In 2025, it has earned an estimated $34 million in revenue and has surpassed 530 million downloads.[33] Despite its lack of promotion, Geometry Dash has retained a growing and stable player base over the years. Its large social media presence along with its focus towards user-generated content has helped it maintain relevance over its lifetime.[33] Since 2020, the number of daily players on Steam has been steadily rising, reaching peaks of 15,000 in 2021 and 16,000 in 2022. Geometry Dash saw a particular spike in popularity after the release of update 2.2 in December 2023, pulling in over 88,000 active players after its release.[25] The mobile version saw another spike in player count in January 2025, hitting 17.4 million monthly players.[33]
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Spin-offs
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| 2013 | Geometry Dash |
|---|---|
| Geometry Dash Lite | |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | Geometry Dash Meltdown |
| 2016 | Geometry Dash World |
| 2017 | Geometry Dash SubZero |
Since the release of the original game in 2013, four spin-off games have been released. Unlike the original, the spin-offs are free to play and contain ads.[34][35][36][37] Geometry Dash Lite was the first spin-off to be released, being done alongside the original on 13 August 2013.[38] The three other games released since then primarily served as teasers for upcoming updates and features in the full game.
Geometry Dash Lite
Geometry Dash Lite is a free version of the game with advertisements and gameplay restrictions, released on 13 August 2013.[34][38] Lite includes only main levels 1-19, all tower levels, and a few selected levels that are either Featured, Daily, weekly or Event levels but does not offer the option to create levels or play most player-made levels. It also has a significantly more limited selection of character customization options, lacking many icons, colors, and other character effects in the full game.[34]
Paul Hatton at TechRadar called the game 'addictive' but was critical about the high amount of ads and the difficulty of the game making playing frustrating at times.[34] Patrick Oksanen at Playlab! was similarly critical about the ads, also adding that the game "does not perhaps live up to the hype it used to have", citing the lack of variety in its gameplay.[38]
Geometry Dash Meltdown
On 16 December 2015, Topala announced a spin-off game, Geometry Dash Meltdown,[39] which was released on 19 December 2015 for iOS and Android.[40][41] It includes three levels featuring songs by F-777. The game showcased new icons and features in levels added in version 2.0 of the original game.[41]
Tom Christiansen at Gamezebo highlighted the game's visual effects and music, complementing how the music and graphics synchronize "in a way that makes playing Geometry Dash Meltdown a standout experience all on its own". They noted that this was not always true of the gameplay though, which made playing feel disorienting at times.[42] Kelly Weikel at Reading Eagle noted that the addition ads in the game was a degrade from the original, but that the fast-faced and challenging gameplay still made it worth playing.[35]
Geometry Dash World
On 21 December 2016, Topala announced a second spin-off game, Geometry Dash World,[43] saying it would come out on the same day. It includes two five-level worlds, introducing features that came to the original game later in update 2.1.[44][45] It also features a selection of levels created by other players.[45]
Simon Reed at Gamezebo praised the game's captivation and decent gameplay, although noted that it was not the "most interesting looking game out there", having a bland color palette.[46] Gerson Noboa at AndroidGuys disagreed however, commenting that "the game is dominated by vibrant colors against a black background. From the main screen to the gameplay, everything is done in a very bright way". They also praised the soundtrack and level design, saying that "you get a huge feeling of accomplishment" when completing a level.[36]
Geometry Dash SubZero
On 12 December 2017, Topala announced a third spin-off game, Geometry Dash SubZero,[47] which was released on 21 December 2017.[48] SubZero showcased many elements of the 2.2 update and contains three levels with music from BoomKitty, MDK, and Bossfight.[37]
Matthew Scholtz at Android Police stated that while the ads in the game were annoying, its short length and free price made up for it, concluding that "if you are looking for a quality rhythm-based platforming game that offers quite a lot of challenge and won't break the bank, Geometry Dash SubZero is a great choice".[37]
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