Where to get it

2013 · RobTop Games · Arcade · Indie

Geometry Dash

Jump and fly your way through danger in this rhythm-based action platformer. Prepare for a near impossible challenge in the world of Geometry Dash. Push your skills to the limit as you jump, fly and flip your way through dangerous passages and spiky obstacles.

Released: 13 August 2013
Platforms: Android Windows iOS macOS
Genres: Arcade Indie Platformer Rhythm
Developers: RobTop Games
Publishers: RobTop Games
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Engine: Cocos2d-x
Country: Sweden
Age ratings: ACB G PEGI 3 CLASS_IND L ESRB E10+
Languages: English
Time to beat: 21hmain story1302hcompletionist

About

Geometry Dash is a 2013 rhythm video game developed by Swedish game developer Robert Topala and published by his company RobTop Games. The player controls an icon and must navigate through levels while avoiding obstacles. Geometry Dash includes 26 developer-made levels: 22 are auto-scrolling, and 4 are platformer levels. It also includes a level editor, enabling players to design custom levels, share them online, and play levels created by other users.

Topala released his first game, Bounce Ball Thingy, on Newgrounds in 2010. As he continued to develop games, he quit his civil engineering course to pursue his new career, working on a handful of games prior to Geometry Dash. He began development in early 2013, being inspired by other platformers such as Super Mario Bros. and The Impossible Game.

›Story

Geometry Dash is a rhythm-based platformer focused purely on obstacle navigation and timing; it has no narrative or plot.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Geometry Dash is a side-scrolling platformer. The player takes control of an icon and must navigate through levels until reaching the end. Classic gameplay uses an auto-scrolling camera, requiring the player to use a single button to complete each level. The level restarts from the beginning if the player collides with an obstacle.

A practice mode option allows the player to place checkpoints that can be restarted from. In platformer mode, players can move left or right without the auto-scrolling camera and can access preset checkpoints without using practice mode.

Development

Geometry Dash was created by Swedish video game developer Robert Topala. In 2010, Topala published his first video game, Bounce Ball Thingy, on Newgrounds, developing it while he was studying civil engineering. He abandoned his course as he became more interested in the video game industry. Topala operated Rune Digital with Niklas Dennerståhl and Daniel Rocque Bengtsson, developing the video games Forlorn and Kingdom Escape.

Both were nominees for the Swedish Game Awards in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Forlorn won the title Best Mobile Game, but it and Kingdom Escape were never published. By May 2012, Topala had founded RobTop Games, releasing Boomlings, a puzzle video game made for iOS. Topala released Memory Mastermind in January 2013 and Boomlings MatchUp in February 2013.

Reception

Geometry Dash's visuals and music have been praised. Matt Purslow at PCGamesN considered the music to be a high point of the game. Andrei Dobra at Softpedia praised the animations and vibrant colors, finding the music, though at times repetitive, to be phenomenal and a complement to the visuals. Jeuxvideo considered the first few levels to be bland-looking but the later levels to be works of art, also enjoying the integration of the songs into the level design.

The gameplay was met with mixed regards. Its difficulty has been criticized, with Chris Morris at Common Sense Media describing it as "maddening", and Dobra and Jeuxvideo finding Geometry Dash potentially too hard for some players to enjoy. Pocket Gamer listed it among the hardest mobile games. Rob Rich at 148Apps saw the gameplay as potentially irritating, although argued that the game was rewarding enough to make the experience worthwhile. Dobra similarly expressed that the gameplay can feel too difficult at times, but that it never felt unfair.