Magic Circle Draw-On: Magic circle effect for 2D games: a summoning circle draws itself on, outer ring, rune ticks, inner ring and pentagram, each traced by a glowing pen, then flashes with sparks and fades.

Magic Circle Draw-On

Magic circle effect for 2D games: a summoning circle draws itself on, outer ring, rune ticks, inner ring and pentagram, each traced by a glowing pen, then flashes with sparks and fades. Seamless loop.

Magic Circle Draw-On is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 3 seconds, drawn on a 512 by 512 canvas. It is built from 2 particle emitters and 6 glowing strokes. Most layers blend additively, so it glows on dark backgrounds.

Colour

Recolours the preview and the free downloads.

Free download with a transparent background, cropped to the effect, 90 frames at 30 fps. Use it in commercial games, no credit needed.

Licence: use it in any project, including paid commercial games such as a game sold on Steam. There is no per-project licence to buy and no credit needed. Terms.

Roblox: the download is a flipbook for a ParticleEmitter. Set FlipbookLayout to Grid8x8, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 3, then emit one particle per cycle. Roblox setup.

REMIX WITH AI

Try:

Left empty, it just opens in the agent, free. Each change is one AI build, and you start with free builds.

Engine data for Unity, Godot, GameMaker and Aseprite comes with a plan: open it in the studio.

OPEN IN THE STUDIO

Change the colours, timing or size, or export for Unity, Godot 4, GameMaker, Phaser, PixiJS and Aseprite.

Try variations: new colours, motion and shapes of this effect, free in the studio.

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 3 s loop.

Magic Circle Draw-On at 8 moments, from 0 s to 2.63 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Magic Circle Draw-On is drawn with 6 glowing strokes, lines with a hot core and a soft glow traced along their shapes, plus 2 particle emitters. Techniques worth a look: particles stretched along their motion, keyframed parameters and post filters (bloom).

It loops seamlessly every 3 s, and one layer fires in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. To recolour the line, select "Outer hairline" and change Core and Glow; Start and End set how much of it is drawn. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

  1. Floor glowsprite / additiveA placed glow.
  2. Outer hairline, Outer ring, Inner ringstroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a circle. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off.
  3. Rune ticks, Centre sealstroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a circle. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off. It is drawn as dashes.
  4. Pentagramstroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a star. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off.
  5. Completion sparksparticles / additiveOne burst of 48 streaks from a ring at 1.52 s. They slow down with drag. Colours range between white and pale cyan.
  6. Rising motesparticles / additiveA stream of soft glows from a ring, its rate keyframed over the loop. They swell and then shrink away. Colours range between pale cyan and white.

DETAILS

Length
3 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas
512 x 512, HD
Layers
2 emitters and 6 glowing strokes
Blend
Mostly additive (glows)
Colours
cyanwhitepale cyan
Sprites
Built-in shapes only
Tags
magic circle, summoning circle, pentagram, rune circle, spell, cast, draw on, arcane, rpg

USING IT IN YOUR GAME

Phaser, PixiJS
The PNG sheet is a plain grid of frames that both can slice. A TexturePacker JSON atlas comes with a plan, from the studio.
Unity
Import the PNG sheet as a Sprite with Mode set to Multiple and slice it, or open the effect in the studio for a ready-made grid.
Godot 4, GameMaker, Aseprite
Open it in the studio and pick your engine in Export: with a plan, it writes the files that engine imports.
Web and chat
The GIF plays anywhere; the APNG keeps soft edges on any background.
Blend mode
This effect is made of light. For the same glow in your game, draw the sprite with additive blending, or export it on black from the studio for additive shaders.

Step by step: Unity, Godot 4, Roblox, GameMaker, Phaser and PixiJS, Aseprite, Web games (live runtime). Drawn with additive blending: see glow effects without a black box.

MORE Neon & Glow Lines

Constellation Draw-On particle effectConstellation Draw-OnNeon Text Write-On particle effectNeon Text Write-OnSummoning Sigil Ignition particle effectSummoning Sigil IgnitionAtom Orbit Rings particle effectAtom Orbit RingsElectric Ring Barrier particle effectElectric Ring BarrierEnergy Outline Aura particle effectEnergy Outline AuraGlowing Button Border particle effectGlowing Button BorderNeon Logo Reveal particle effectNeon Logo Reveal

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Cel-Shaded Magic Circle particle effectCel-Shaded Magic CircleMagic Sigil Web particle effectMagic Sigil WebArcane Detonation particle effectArcane DetonationArcane Missiles particle effectArcane MissilesArcane Vortex (Top-Down) particle effectArcane Vortex (Top-Down)Blink particle effectBlink

All Neon & Glow Lines effects or the full library.