How Do You Approach Simple 2D Character Animation for Mobile Games?

[zepra_2561]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been playing around with some 2D mobile game concepts recently, mostly casual multiplayer stuff, and I’m curious how others approach basic character animations for games — like walking, jumping, or idle loops.

I’ve experimented a bit with Adobe Animate and even tried exporting sprite sheets for Unity. But I sometimes find it hard to get that “bouncy” cartoony movement without spending way too much time on small details.

I was exploring how minimal character movement can still feel dynamic in multiplayer games, and came across a cool game design breakdown that analyzes how Stickman Party handles its animations and mechanics — really simple but effective stuff.

Just wondering:

• Do you usually animate everything manually, or use tweening + bone rigs?

• What’s your favorite tool for building sprite animations for mobile?

• Any workflow tips to keep things lightweight and optimized?

Would love to hear how you all manage game art without overcomplicating it.

Cheers

[zepra_2561]

Would love to get some tips!

[fateh_1125]

Yeah, I’ve seen that breakdown too — really interesting how they kept the animations super minimal but still fun. Definitely a good reference for anyone working on lightweight game characters.

[rayek.elfin]

The OP's text is 100% AI generated. As are the other 3 messages this user posted.

[zepra_2561]

I am not that much good in English so I take help from AI. I give prompt in my language to AI that it converts in English in a professional way. Is there any issue in that?

[rayek.elfin]

Only that together with the link in your post as well as being a new account that those are three red flags for spam. Usually, that is.

This time may be the exception to the rule.

[Axel_Stone1877]

Hey! For 2D game animations, mix manual keyframes with tweening in Adobe Animate for walks and idles, then add squash-and-stretch on jumps for that cartoony bounce. Bone rigs in Spine or Unity’s Anima2D speed things up. Keep it light with 6-8 frames per loop, exaggerate poses, and export at 24fps. Stickman Party’s simple, bold moves are a great target. Test early for mobile! What’s your plan?

[zepra_2561]

Thanks

[rayek.elfin]

Interestingly enough this answer was also written (or translated) with AI. And a new account with only one post to answer this particular question.

The anwer itself is generic with odd insertions like "Test early for mobile!'. And who would ever combine two very different pipelines like that - "mix manual keyframes with tweening in Adobe Animate for walks" and speed those up with "bone rigs in Spine or Anima2D"? What the heck? Makes no sense at all.

This is a typical non-sensical answer generated by AI.

[n. tilcheff]

Bot infestation.

[Axel_Stone1877]

Yo dude, chill for a bit. Not every clear post is AI churning out text. I used AI for research, like most folks do these days, then wrote and edited it myself to fit my style. It’s just using tools wisely, not faking anything.

And yeah, my setup might not be your jam, but it gets the job done for me. No need to play detective over a forum post, man. You’re so free you’re guessing if comments are human-written or not? If you’ve got a better idea, share it instead of throwing shade.

[kglad]

@Axel_Stone1877 

clearly ai generated text will often get you banned on adobe's forums.