Pixel art explosions and bombs

Free pixel art explosions for games: a cartoon bomb, dynamite, a landmine, a classic blast, a rocket hit and a boss death chain, as sprite sheets and GIFs.

Updated

A pixel explosion has a shape people know from decades of games: a frame or two of white, a ball of stepped colour that goes white, yellow, orange, red, then smoke that shrinks away, with a few chunks thrown out. The ones below follow it, and the bombs add the moment before: a fuse that burns down and a blink that speeds up, so the player has time to run.

Every effect here is free. Its page has DOWNLOAD GIF and PNG SHEET buttons that need no account: the files have a transparent background, are cropped to the effect and run at 30 frames a second. To change an effect first, press OPEN IN THE STUDIO; a free account exports 3 effects a day.

Bombs and blasts

Pixel Art Bomb Explosion, free game effectPixel Art Bomb ExplosionPixel Art Explosion, free game effectPixel Art ExplosionPixel Art Dynamite Explosion, free game effectPixel Art Dynamite ExplosionPixel Art Landmine, free game effectPixel Art LandminePixel Art Rocket Launcher, free game effectPixel Art Rocket LauncherPixel Art Boss Explosion, free game effectPixel Art Boss Explosion

More pixel explosions

Big Explosion, free game effectBig ExplosionPixel Art Barrel Explosion, free game effectPixel Art Barrel ExplosionPixel Bomb Toss, free game effectPixel Bomb TossDigital Explosion Pixel Art, free game effectDigital Explosion Pixel ArtPixel Art Molotov Cocktail, free game effectPixel Art Molotov CocktailSmoke Bomb, free game effectSmoke Bomb

What makes a pixel explosion read

  • A white frame first. One or two frames of white or pale yellow at full size, before any colour, is what makes it feel loud.
  • Stepped colour, not gradients. Each ring of the blast is one flat colour, and the whole ball steps from white to yellow to orange to red as it grows. Pixel Art Explosion is the classic version.
  • Smoke that shrinks. Dark round puffs that get smaller and drift up read better on a pixel grid than smoke that fades out.
  • Debris on the floor. Chunks that fly out, land and bounce tell the player where the ground is. Bomb Explosion throws its shell, Dynamite Explosion throws paper scraps.
  • Hang time. Leave a few frames after the last puff before the loop restarts, so a repeated explosion does not feel like a strobe.

Play one in your engine

Spawn the explosion as an animated sprite at the impact point, play it once and remove it when the last frame ends: in Godot, an AnimatedSprite2D whose animation_finished signal calls queue_free(); in Unity, an Animator on a prefab destroyed after the clip length; in GameMaker, an object whose Animation End event destroys it. Shake the camera for 4 to 8 frames on the white frame.

Change it in the studio

  1. Open Pixel Art Bomb Explosion in the studio.
  2. Select Effect settings. Under Quick tweaks, press a Colour swatch for a green poison blast or a blue plasma one, and Bigger or Smaller to resize it.
  3. Under Pixel art and palette, Pixel size sets how chunky the pixels are, and Palette snaps every colour to PICO-8, NES, Endesga 32 and others.
  4. Press Export and choose Spritesheet. Set Frame rate to 12 for a hand-animated feel.

Or describe it

More pixel explosions

Browse every pixel art effect in the library, or describe the one you need and the agent builds it as real, editable pixel art.

All pixel art VFXDescribe an effect

Questions

Where can I download a pixel art explosion sprite sheet?

Open any explosion on this page and press PNG SHEET. The spritesheet downloads free with a transparent background and no account, and DOWNLOAD GIF gives an animated GIF of the same effect.

How many frames does a pixel explosion need?

About 8 to 16 frames at 12 fps for a small blast, and 20 or more for a big one with smoke. In the studio, the export Frame rate sets how many frames are written from the same effect.

Why does my pixel art effect look blurry in the engine?

The engine is smoothing the texture when it scales it. Set the texture filter to nearest neighbour (Point in Unity, Nearest in Godot, turn off texture interpolation in GameMaker) and scale the sprite by whole numbers, such as 2x or 3x, so every pixel stays square.

Can I use these pixel art effects in a commercial game?

Yes. Exported effects, including ones started from the library, can be used in any project, including paid games sold on Steam or console stores, with no per-project licence and no credit needed. The few effects that contain CC BY sprites by CodeManu say so on their page and ask you to credit CodeManu.

More pixel art VFX

  • Pixel art fireballs and fire effectsA pixel fireball projectile, blasts, breath, a meteor and looping campfires, torches and braziers, free as sprite sheets and GIFs.
  • Pixel art rainA tileable pixel rain overlay, rain loops, raindrop splashes, a thunderclap and snow, all seamless.
  • Pixel art sparklesTwinkles, glints on items, a crafting burst, fireworks, stun stars and a starfield, free as sprite sheets and GIFs.
  • Pixel art auras and status effectsPower-up auras, heals, shields and buffs, and burning, poisoned, frozen and stunned status effects that loop around a character.
  • Pixel art level up and reward effectsA level up burst, a quest complete banner, a chest opening, a key unlock, pickups and a combo counter.
  • Pixel art smoke and dustSmoke puffs, a smoke bomb, death poofs, jump and landing dust, wall jumps and a dust devil.
  • Pixel art lightning and electric effectsA lightning strike, a thunderclap, a plasma orb, an EMP blast, energy impacts and a mana bolt.
  • Pixel art sword slashesA sword swing, claw rakes, a spin attack, a delayed dash strike, wind and lightning slashes and two blades locking.
  • Pixel art hit effectsLight, medium and heavy hit sparks, a comic punch, a critical star, and fire, ice, electric, blood and shield-break hits.
  • Pixel art projectilesFireballs, a magic orb, ice shards, a lightning ball, a shadow bolt, a laser beam, darts, arrows, a boomerang and an axe.
  • Pixel art coins, gems and pickupsA spinning coin loop, a coin burst, a shining gem, heart and star pickups, XP orbs and treasure sparkle.
  • Pixel art portals and teleportersA portal door, a warp portal, a teleporter pad, a respawn beam and a save point crystal, all seamless loops.
  • Pixel art palettes for game effectsPICO-8, Sweetie 16, Endesga 32, DawnBringer, NES, Game Boy and CGA: what each palette suits and how to snap an effect or a picture to it.
  • AI pixel art effects for gamesDescribe a pixel effect, pick a palette and pixel size, and get editable pixel art that exports as a sprite sheet or GIF, with prompts that work.