Nearly seven years since its last major content update, Geometry Dash received a massive update just before the holidays. Now, players are using features newly added to the game's level editor to recreate games like Mario Kart, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Yume Nikki, essentially turning the rhythm platformer from 2013 into its own game engine overnight.
Update 2.2, released by developer RobTop on December 19, adds a new game mode, a new main level, and (perhaps most importantly) new features to the game's level editor, including new shader effects, a particle editor, and camera controls. Two weeks later, Geometry Dash players are still taking to social media to share their creations, and they've cooked up some pretty impressive recreations of popular games — including a few that seemingly shouldn't be possible in Geometry Dash.
A few players have pushed Geometry Dash to its limit by recreating 3D games despite the level editor being entirely 2D. As shared by several players across X/Twitter and Reddit, player YaY is currently working on a Geometry Dash recreation of the original Five Nights at Freddy's, and they've already added working doors and cameras.
foxy in fnaf+ in gd 2.2 by yay
— Inex (@InexGD) December 30, 2023
yes this is geometry dash pic.twitter.com/ieoQKzfCUu
Another player has recreated Rainbow Road from the original Super Mario Kart, complete with a seemingly 3D player model of Yoshi.
how is this made in geometry dash bro ???????? pic.twitter.com/7G2b5OKNFx
— notkaizoxd ?? (@actuallykaizo) December 25, 2023
While a few players have pushed Geometry Dash's 2D editor to its limits by creating 3D games, notably more players have used the game's new particles and shaders to create faithful remakes of popular 2D games. One player recreated the original version of Celeste, which was made for a game jam using Pico-8.
i made pico-8 from celeste in geometry dash :3 pic.twitter.com/CysLP3GcwH
— Melissa (@wombt_) December 30, 2023
Another player has shared her ongoing remake of exploration game Yume Nikki, which looks inseparable from the original thanks to its use of the same sound effects and art.
i have the plan of remaking the entire Yume Nikki in Geometry Dash and we need people as 2.2 came out it's now possible to do pic.twitter.com/CmgdX1UlWV
— Clara (@claaaaaaaraaaa) December 28, 2023
In many cases, the update has led to players breaking past Geometry Dash's limitations as just a platformer, shown off by this recreation of a boss fight from Terraria's Calamity mod by Reddit user u/JustDarkz.
geometry dash 2.2 editor is so flexible that a talented individual is already working on recreating supreme calamitas pic.twitter.com/HhPGzSSLjG
— Calamity Mod? (@CalamityModTeam) December 26, 2023
Thanks to its latest update, according to Steam Charts, Geometry Dash broke its own record for concurrent players the night Update 2.2 was released, and it's maintained a solid number of players since, likely in part thanks to the remakes players are crafting. Now, after people have made Doom playable on pretty much everything from Notepad to a pregnancy test (and Doom itself), of course, players are asking one question: can Geometry Dash run Doom?
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.
