Pixel Games Online: Retro Platformers, Shooters and Puzzles

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Pixel games online are games drawn in pixel art, the blocky, low-resolution look of early computer and arcade games, made new today. Wikipedia's article on pixel art describes it as digital art in which images are built using pixels as the only building block, widely associated with the graphics of 8-bit and 16-bit era computers, arcade machines and consoles. Below are pixel games by type, from the pixel games collection.

Types of pixel games

TypeWhat you doStart with
PlatformersJump, dodge and fight through levelsMask of Six Moons
ShootersRun and gun, or survive waves of monstersPixel Commando
RPGs and clickersLevel up a hero and collect gearHero Knight - Action RPG
Pixel picture puzzlesClear a picture made of pixels, one color at a timePixel Feast
Two playersShort duels on one deviceJanissary Battles

Pixel platformers

  • Mask of Six Moons is a pixel-art action platformer. Go through the moon gates, fight monsters and loot weapons from Common up to the rare Phantom tier, in 12 weapon types from greatswords and scythes to chain whips. Level up five stats and gain a dash, a double jump and a wall jump. A and D move, Space jumps, J attacks, and a gamepad works too.
  • Aidan in Danger follows Aidan, a young red-haired elf with a slingshot, protecting Drakor, the last dragon on Earth, from an interdimensional villain, with time travel along the way. A and D move, W jumps, X or J shoots, C or K rolls and Space dashes.
  • Mononinja has more than 30 levels of precise jumps. Hold Space, or the screen, longer to jump higher.
  • DuaLight - A Reflected Game hides its platforms: you can only see the real path in the reflection at the bottom of the screen.
  • Chicken Ko collects bowls of grain and reaches the red flag past enemies and spikes, getting harder as you go. Press W or the up arrow twice to double jump.
  • Spirit Boy turns a boy into a ghostly soul to float past spikes, but he has to become human again to reach the exit door, and he has three lives.
  • Shadowcurse sends a lone wanderer with a blade into a broken world. WASD moves and jumps, and Space, E and Shift are the attack skills.

More levels to jump through are in platformer games.

Pixel shooters and arcade games

  • Pixel Commando is a 2D run-and-gun through jungles, snow lands, lava zones and future cities, with boss battles and upgrades bought with coins. The arrow keys or A and D move, Space or W jumps, and J or the mouse shoots.
  • Nuclear Assault is a shoot 'em up in the style of 90s arcades: new cannons, power-ups and 4 Robot Kings to defeat. J or Z shoots, and K or X switches weapons.
  • Monster Haul is a survival brawler against waves of slimes, bats, ghosts and goblins. Weapons fire by themselves, and you draft from more than 60 of them as you level up.
  • Alien Wreckage is a multidirectional shooter in which a lone explorer raids alien wrecks for ancient artifacts.
  • Pixel Racer dodges traffic and oil spills on a highway in a red car; the longer you last, the higher the score.

Pixel RPGs and clickers

  • Hero Knight - Action RPG fights monsters drawn in 8 and 16 bit pixels with a sword and spells. Collect gold and gems, buy equipment, and gain a new magic ability after each boss. A and S drink the red and blue potions.
  • Orc Hero is a turn-based pixel adventure: upgrade dodge, defense and attack to survive ever stronger waves.
  • The Best Warrior starts you as a peasant training on dummies to become the greatest warrior in the kingdom, with bosses along the way and timed chests.

How upgrades and waiting work in games like these is in idle and clicker games.

Pixel art puzzles

Here the pixels are the puzzle: a picture made of colored blocks that you clear in the right order.

  • Pixel Feast has 134 levels, each hiding a picture. Tap a block on the bottom row of the tank, and its little eaters drop into one of five slots and eat every pixel of their color. Open a block the picture no longer needs, and that slot stays busy for nothing.
  • ANT COLONY works the same way with ants: tap a colored box into one of five slots, and the ants carry bricks of that color down the hole. Pictures range from a small apple to a 36x44 mural.
  • Slime Buffet sends hungry slimes into 100 candy mosaics, with four active slots.
  • Pixel Shooter Puzzle fires cannons at a rotating 3D voxel model, layer by layer, over 200 puzzles.
  • Pixel Flow fires cannons along a conveyor at pixels of their color. Slots are limited, so the order of shots matters.
  • Diamond Paint Art is color by number with diamonds, as slowly or as quickly as you like.
  • Slimoban is a box-pushing puzzle with slimes in the way: green ones stand still and can only be pushed into the water, blue ones chase you and can be hit with a fireball, and red ones chase you and can only be pushed into the water.

Tips for pixel picture puzzles

  1. Count before you tap. Open a color only when the picture still has pixels of that color the eaters can reach.
  2. Keep one slot free when you can. In Pixel Feast and ANT COLONY, a full row of slots with no matching color left ends the level.
  3. Clear the colors that block others first, so the rest of the picture opens up.

More color by number games are in coloring games online.

Pixel games for two players

  • Janissary Battles packs 8 retro-pixel duels, Arrow, Axe, Sword, Mace, Arena, Spear, Catapult and Gun, picked at random; the first to 5 wins. Each player has one key: the up arrow or W, or a touch.
  • Helifight sets two pixel helicopters against each other. Collect the rocket symbol to fire, and five hits win.
  • Pixeled Smash Duel knocks the other player off the platform with weapons, against a friend or the computer; the first to 5 wins.
  • Soccer Pixel is retro football for two, and the first to five goals wins.
  • Retro Running Boxes is a runner with a two-player mode on one device.

How two people share one keyboard is explained in 2 player games on one keyboard.

Pixel games FAQ

Are pixel games free to play online?

Yes. They play free in the browser, with no install and no registration, on a phone, a tablet or a computer.

Which pixel games work on a phone?

Mononinja, Monster Haul and the two-player duels such as Janissary Battles and Helifight list touch controls. Pixel Feast is played with one tap per move.

What is the difference between pixel and voxel games?

A pixel game is drawn in flat squares. A voxel game is built from small cubes in 3D, like the rotating model in Pixel Shooter Puzzle.

The full set, from platformers to picture puzzles, is in the pixel games collection.

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