Pixel art fireballs and fire effects

Pixel fire in three kinds: things you throw (a fireball, a blast, a meteor), things that burn in place and loop (a campfire, a brazier, a torch, a candle), and fire on a character (burning). Pick the kind first: a projectile and its impact are separate effects in most games, while a loop has to repeat with no visible jump.

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.

Fireballs, blasts and breath

Pixel FireballPixel Fire BlastPixel Art Fire BreathPixel Art Meteor ImpactPixel Fire ColumnBig Explosion

Campfires, torches and braziers that loop

These loop seamlessly, so they can sit in a level for as long as you like. Place them on the ground or a wall as animated sprites; a smaller copy at the back adds depth.

CampfirePixel Art Brazier LoopWall TorchCandle Flame Pixel ArtPixel Art Burning Status

What makes a pixel fireball read

• A hot core. A white or pale yellow centre, a yellow and orange body, and red only at the tail. Fire that is orange all the way through looks flat.
• A trail that cools. Embers fall behind and fade from orange to red to grey smoke, which tells the player which way it is moving.
• A separate impact. When the fireball lands, swap it for a burst: one or two white frames, a ring, sparks that bounce, then smoke that clears. Pixel Fire Blast and Big Explosion are impacts.
• Few, big pixels. At a pixel size of 3, a fireball 8 to 12 art pixels across reads from across the screen; speckles of single pixels do not.

Change it in the studio

1. Open Pixel Fireball in the studio.
2. Select Effect settings. Under Quick tweaks, press a Colour swatch for a blue, green or purple fireball, and Bigger or Smaller to resize it.
3. Under Pixel art and palette, Pixel size sets how chunky the pixels are: 2 for fine detail, 3 or 4 for a bold retro look.
4. Press Export, choose Spritesheet and set Frame rate to 12 for a hand-animated feel or 24 for smoother motion. Pixel art always exports sharp, with no motion blur.

Or describe it

• Build a pixel art fireball with a smoke trail (1 build)
• Build a pixel art fireball impact (1 build)