Cocos2d is a framework, not a full game engine, and has been around since 2008 so it’s evolved significantly with support for more than just mobile games. The framework is still optimized for 2D mobile game development but has tools for 3D graphics, and supports desktop and web exports. The open-source code lets devs modify it heavily to fit their workflows as well.
Cocos2d’s toolset and community have churned out multiple mobile games, including Cocos’s own devs, in order to showcase the engine’s capabilities. Cocos Creator built on Cocos2d, using the framework as the core of the engine, and adding an IDE and improving the editor for web and PC game development.
Games like AFK Arena, which run on mobile with idle mechanics, became popular due to their easy-to-pick gameplay and because they ran without lag even on low-end phones. The list below has 18 games made with Cocos2d (some made with Cocos Creator when stated otherwise) so devs are able to understand the scope when using Cocos for game development. Keep reading for an overview of each game’s type, who made it and when, and their unique points.
1. Geometry Dash
Geometry Dash is a rhythm-based, action platformer game developed by Robert Topala under RopTop Games. Players guide a square-shaped icon through levels full of obstacles while syncing to the background music. Geometry Dash first released on August 12, 2023 for iOS and Android, becoming available on Windows and macOS later on.
Geometry Dash became popular amongst mobile gaming communities, plus on YouTube and Twitch, with more than 370 million downloads across platforms. The popularity stems from its difficulty, since there are instant restarts for each replay, and a level editor that lets players create and share customized levels. Expansions like Geometry Dash Meltdown, World and SubZero added new content.
Cocos2d’s toolset was ideal for Geometry Dash since it’s optimized for 2D games and efficient for the sprite-based visuals and smooth animations that play out. Cocos also let RobTop release the game across platforms with little rework, adding to the platform reach and cutting down on development time. The engine has integrated systems for obstacle collision, gravity flips and quick rendering that are efficient for building Geometry Dash’s one-touch gameplay.
2. AFK Arena
AFK Arena was developed and published by Lilith Games, a studio based in Shanghai. AFK Arena is a F2P (free-to-play) RPG with idle mechanics, where players collect heroes from different factions to build teams. Players are able to progress via battles even when they’re offline. The game was released globally in April 2019 for iOS and Android.
AFK’s idle gameplay feature helped it stand out, aided by how it has over 80 heroes across the 7 factions. AFK comes with multiple modes that give players freedom to progress how they want, with seasonal events and collaborations increasing the platform reach. Ranked among the top-grossing mobile RPGs in several regions, AFK garnered tens of millions of downloads globally, releasing a sequel called AFK Journey in 2024.
Cocos2d’s optimized sprite-handling helped create the game’s hand-drawn visuals that were inspired by Western fantasy art. Cocos’s cross-platform support enabled the release on both iOS and Android too, and since AFK didn’t need heavy 3D rendering, Cocos provided a stable and resource-friendly solution.
3. Happy Animal Hospital
Happy Animal Hospital is a casual, simulation and management game, where players are veterinarians running a hospital for animals. Happy Animal Hospital was developed by Century UU Co. Ltd, a Japanese mobile game studio, and released to the App store and Google Play store in 2020.
Happy Animal Hospital’s gameplay revolves around players diagnosing and treating animals with conditions like colds and insomnia. Players need to grow herbs for medicine and are able to expand the hospital by adding consultation desks, medicine baths, etc. There are animal employees too and the visuals are made to be cheerful with their hand-drawn style.
Happy Animal Hospital became popular in Japan and was made available globally via the App store and APKPure, but it isn’t as widely known as AFK Arena. The game relies on simple, colorful 2D art instead of 3D graphics so Cocos’s 2D rendering tools are ideal. The cross-platform support for both iOS and Android smoothened the global release.
4. Three Kingdoms: Glory of Heroes
Three Kingdoms: Glory of Heroes was developed by GM99, a Chinese mobile game publisher, and released in 2021 on Android and iOS. Three Kingdoms is a mobile, strategy RPG, where players recruit generals, build armies, and engage in battles, while managing resources and territory. This game was made using Cocos2d-lua, a variant of the Cocos2d framework that lets devs add logic using the Lua scripting language.
Three Kingdoms has a historical setting based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese novel that combined historical events and legends from the late Han dynasty period. The gameplay therefore mixes empire-building, hero collection and tactical battles with multiplayer elements like guilds, alliances and PvP wars. Three Kingdoms’ homage to the novel made it popular in East Asia, and though not as internationally recognized as AFK Arena, it’s recognized in Cocos dev circles.
Cocos highlighted Three Kingdoms on their showcases as an example of modern, large-scale games that used their Lua framework. Cocos’s 2D/3D supports helped devs add in stylized visuals, while their multiplayer support made it suitable for MMO-style strategy as well.
5. Paper Wedding Dress 4
Paper Wedding Dress 4 is a horror, and mystery puzzle game, where players explore eerie villages, and solve the puzzles to figure out the storyline. Paper Wedding Dress was developed by Xinxin Interactive Entertainment, with the first game launched in 2020. The 4th installment was made with Cocos Creator.
Paper Wedding Dress 4 followed the prequels’ style of using novels, so it’s based on The Story of the West Chamber. The setting is Yichang Town, where an evil chat message leads a couple to a shady town. Players need to complete traditional rituals alluding to Chinese customs, like temple offerings and puzzles, to escape the town and reveal the plot. The art and eerie sounds create a tense and immersive experience.
Cocos Creator was an ideal fit for the game’s development due to its 2D sprite-rendering efficiency, helping create the hand-drawn visuals. Cocos is lightweight as well, which helped the devs rapidly iterate sequels and ensure the games ran smoothly across mobile platforms. Each new sequel expanded on the lore and brought in new puzzles to add longevity to the game. This resulted in Paper Wedding Dress 4 shooting to the top of the iOS free game list and the TapTap hot list on its first day.
6. Li Guofu’s Little Days
Li Guofu’s Little Days is set in a Chinese countryside from the 1990s, with players managing small town life and building businesses. Li Guofu’s Little Days released in May 2022, published by Oyahoo and developed by Hangzhou Zhihu Network. It’s a casual, simulation and business management game that was made with Cocos Creator, rather than Cocos2d, owing to the evolved toolset.
Cocos Creator comes with advanced tools for 2D rendering and is further optimized for mobile, ensuring the game runs smoothly on mid-range devices and supporting cross-platform publishing. Li Guofu uses a warm art style that’s cartoonish to emphasize simplicity as the theme, appealing to casual players looking for a game that’s easy to pick up.
Li Guofu shot to the top of the iOS free game list within 5 days of launch with more than 1.52 million players engaged, standing out in China’s simulation genre. Li Guofu’s popularity stems from its nostalgic theme, going into Chinese rural life with farming and trading mechanics. Players build shops while managing their resources with the aim to expand their economy.
7. Badland
Badland is a side-scrolling, action and adventure platformer developed by Frogmind Games, a Finnish indie studio. Badland originally released on iOS in April 2013, later expanding to Android, Windows Phone, PC and consoles. Players control small creatures called Clones in levels filled with traps and obstacles. The Cocos variant for iOS was specifically used to make Badland.
Badland’s art style uses silhouette visuals for the Clones against colorful backgrounds. Players need to make sure the Clones avoid spinning wheel traps, and collapsing structures. Badland has local co-op and competitive multiplayer for up to 4 players as well, and a level editor that lets players create and share their custom levels.
Badland’s visuals, atmosphere and physics-based gameplay garnered it praise, with more than 65 million players globally. Cocos2d’s rendering toolset made it ideal to create the silhouette art and smooth animations. The physics engine let Frogmind implement the obstacle interactions and clone movement too. Badland was expanded later into its 2015 Game of the Year edition and Badland Brawl in 2019, both of which used a heavily customized version of Cocos2d.
8. Cookie Run: OvenBreak
Cookie Run: OvenBreak was developed by Devsisters, a South Korean studio and released globally in October 2016 for iOS and Android. Cookie Run is a sidescrolling, endless runner, where players control cookies that are escaping from an oven, and collect items while avoiding obstacles. Each cookie comes with unique abilities, pets and combos.
The devs designed more than 100 cookie characters, each with different powers and backstories. Companion pets and collectible treasures act as motivation for continuous play, aided by Guild Runs, Trophy Races and seasonal events to bring in new players. The popularity Cookie Run attained ranked it among the top mobile games in Korea.
Cookie Run expanded into additional titles like Cookie Run: Kingdom and Cookie Run: Tower of Adventures, with an active fanbase on social media churning out fanarts and e-sports style competitions. The game helped establish the Devsisters as a major mobile game dev; Cocos2d’s toolset playing a role in the colorful characters and cross-platform deployment. Cocos was also able to handle the quick endless runner mechanics with little lag, and support frequent updates and live events.
9. Star Traders: Frontiers
Star Traders: Frontiers is a hybrid, space trading and tactical RPG, where players roleplay as a starship captain in an open-world galaxy. Players need to balance trading with combat, diplomacy, and exploration. Star Traders was developed and published by the Trese Brothers, a 2-person indie studio, and was released on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android in August 2018. The game developed a strong niche community on Steam and mobile platforms.
The development for Star Traders took several years as the Trese Brothers redid its earlier versions, like Star Traders RPG, to fine-tune it. Star Traders was crowdfunded via Kickstarter in 2017 prior to its release in 2018, raising around $50,000. The open-world sandbox systems made it stand out, letting players pick between being merchants, pirates, bounty hunters, diplomats or explorers.
The Starships are upgradable via weapons, defenses, and specialized modules with RPG mechanics for turn-based combat, faction politics and branching storylines. A heavily modified version of Cocos2d-x was used for development, the open-source framework handing devs the freedom needed to do so. It was therefore ideal for sprite-based starships, maps and UI-heavy RPG mechanics and for cross-platform deployment. Devs integrated Cocos with Spine (Esoteric Software) for character animations as well.
10. Idle Mafia
Idle Mafia involves players building and expanding a criminal empire, where they recruit gangsters, and run close to illegal businesses to collect profits. Idle Mafia was developed and published by FunPlus, a parent company of Century Games, and was shown on the Cocos September 2020 game showcase.
Idle Mafia uses idle mechanics, with businesses generating income even when players are offline. Players are able to unlock mobsters with unique abilities as well, and use them to manage multiple crime-themed businesses like casinos and nightclubs. The frequent time-limited events and seasonal content help Idle Mafia’s community stay active, who already churn out guides and tier lists.
Idle Mafia was rated around 4.3 stars on Google Play and the App store, popular with fans of idle clicker games and casual simulation titles. Cocos2d’s graphics and rendering tools helped create the game’s cartoonish art style, with the optimization tools making it lightweight despite the idle mechanics.
11. VillageRhapsody
VillageRhapsody is a life simulation and management game set in a rural village where players roleplay as a young man coming back to his hometown. VillageRhapsody was developed by Yoo Game, an indie dev, with a PG version published to Steam in 2022. The game was part of the wave of indie simulation titles that were inspired by Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, and was made using Cocos Creator.
VillageRhapsody, similar to Stardew Valley, has mechanics for players to build relationships with the villagers, manage resources and help the community thrive. Players get to interact with the villagers and become friends (or date them), and take part in local traditions. Farming, fishing and gathering are the core mechanics, aiming to highlight rural heritage and community.
VillageRhapsody is a niche indie title at heart, with a modest player base and mixed reviews on Steam. It’s praised for being simple to play and charming but doesn’t have as much depth compared to other farming sims. Cocos Creator was an ideal fit since it has a full fledged IDE and enhanced editor, making it easier for Yoo Game to add the farming mechanics, and for the Steam launch.
12. Top War: Battle Game
Top War: Battle Game was developed by TopWar Studio, a subsidiary of Rivergame, and published globally in December 2019 to iOS and Android. Top War: Battle Game is a mobile strategy MMO where players merge units and buildings to upgrade them, and then send armies into PvP and PvE battles.
Top War uses merge mechanics so that instead of waiting for upgrades, players merge units and buildings to instantly level them up. Players construct and expand their island base with defences, as well as factories and training grounds. The armies include land, sea and air forces, and MMO features like guild alliances, world map battles, and cross-server competitions are there.
Players run an active community with guides, tier lists, and YouTube and Twitch content, which are pushed ahead by the seasonal events, along with the hero recruitment and limited-time challenges. Top War is ranked among the top grossing strategy games in multiple regions, with a strong presence in Asia, Europe and North America. Cocos2d’s runtime helped the game scale globally without lag on low-end phones, and with adding the idle and merge mechanics.
13. Depart, Lord!
Depart, Lord! is a WeChat mini-game that combines troop-based strategy with action mechanics. Depart, Lord! was developed by Tencent, releasing as part of the WeChat minigame ecosystem around 2021. The game was highlighted by Cocos to showcase what Cocos Creator was able to do. Players need to command units, leading their squads into combat, which includes fast-paced encounters with rage mechanics and healing.
WeChat is a messaging app that’s exclusive to China with Depart, Lord popular in China as a result. Cocos Creator’s toolset let Tencent create the game to run inside WeChat without needing a standalone app. Depart, Lord is lightweight and is deployable to both mobile and web. Cocos is also widely used in China, so it was a natural choice for Tencent.
14. Wirewalk
Wirewalk is one of the first games built for Steam using Cocos2d, and was made by DebugChicken, who won an award from GameDev for it. Wirewalk is a 2D, top-down action RPG, and dungeon crawler with puzzle mechanics. The game was released on September 23, 2021 on Steam and was later adapted to the Playdate handheld console.
Wirewalk uses a cyberfantasy theme, set in a dystopian future where digital viruses infect real-world systems. The protagonist, Rada, fights the viruses off with a baseball bat and roller skates, which also act as tools to get through the obstacles. There are optional side quests for equipment upgrades as well.
Wirewalk has very positive Steam reviews with a cult following from indie RPG fans. Cocos’s toolset let it adapt to Playdate with ease, showcasing the engine’s flexibility, and gave DebugChicken a lightweight system to use for Steam.
15. Hungry Shark Arena
Hungry Shark Arena was developed by Ubisoft Nano, a division of Ubisoft Entertainment, as part of the Hungry Shark franchise. Nano was dissolved in 2023 so Hungry Shark Arena doesn’t get updates or events anymore. Hungry Shark Arena is a multiplayer, battle royale action game set in the ocean, where players control sharks that eat and hunt to get stronger while competing with other players.
The arena in Hungry Shark holds more than 20 sharks, of which only one can survive since players grow strong only after eating fish and other players. The combat mechanics combine arcade-style action with competitive multiplayer as a result. Maps are full of hazards, prey and rival predators as well. Cocos2d provided efficient rendering for the 2D and 2.5D arcade visuals, and cross-platform support, but the game isn’t playable on browser since Nano was dissolved.
16. Hundred Scenes of the South of the Yangtze River
Hundred Scenes of the South of the Yangtze River is a simulation, and city-building game inspired by Chinese landscape painting. Hundred Scenes of the South of the Yangtze River was developed by Coconut Island Games, a Shanghai-based studio, and released in 2020 to iOS and Android. The game was made with Cocos Creator and involves players designing and managing a Ming Dynasty water village.
The art style is inspired by Ming Dynasty painter, Wen Zhengming, with hand-drawn aesthetics that imitate scroll paintings. Players need to build homes, farms and businesses, while managing the daily routines of the villagers. Historical figures, folklore and traditional Chinese architecture are integrated into Hundred Scenes.
Hundred Scenes’s highlight of cultural heritage made it popular in China, with Cocos Creator being an ideal choice since it has a strong community there. This made it easy to add cultural content and provide the 2D rendering tools needed for the visuals. The historical representations of certain figures were criticized though.
17. Slash Brave
Slash Brave was developed by Tatsunori Kanada, self-published in November 2017 to iOS, and was later available on Android. Slash Brave is a casual, dungeon RPG, with auto battle mechanics where players assemble a party of heroes to fight monsters and collect loot from dungeons.
Players need to choose from six different classes to form a team and there are more than 200 items with randomized special effects, along with rare and legendary gear. Players compete in limited time dungeons to rank on the leaderboards and get the rewards, with the auto battle system making it accessible for casual play.
Cocos2d’s framework is optimized for iOS and Android which helped with the cros-platform launch and is efficient for the 2D sprite-based combat movements. Slash Brave was rated 4.5 stars on the App store with positive feedback for both accessibility and replayability but it isn’t widely known outside of Japan.
18. DesignVille
Designville is a merge puzzle, and design sim game, where players merge items to unlock new tools and resources for renovations (and decorating). Designville was developed by TAPCLAP studio with Cocos Creator, and released around 2021-2022 on iOS and Android. The game was part of the merge game boom among mobile games, with easy-to-learn mechanics and progression loops.
Cocos Creator was ideal to add in the merge mechanics, which let players combine items immediately to upgrade or unlock new ones, and for the item-heavy puzzle boards. Cocos also helped ensure the game was optimized to run across mobile platforms without lagging on low-end devices.
How to learn to make games with Cocos2d?
To learn to make games with Cocos2d, go for the courses that are available on platforms like Udemy, and join forums dedicated for Cocos, as well as Discord groups. For Cocos Creator, refer to the official Cocos manuals which have coding examples and explanations on how to navigate the UI.
