Geometry Dash pointercreate demon list
Pointercrate | |
| Type | Community ranking system |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Website | Pointercrate (Official Website) |
The Geometry Dash Demon List (often referred to simply as the List) is a highly influential and professional organization within the *Geometry Dash* community that maintains a comprehensive ranking of the game's most difficult user-created levels, specifically the "Extreme Demons" [1]. The list ranks these levels from the most challenging (Top 1) down to the 150th hardest [1, 2].
The list has been seated at the center of the community's conscience for nearly half of the game’s history and is considered one of the most influential organizations found in *Geometry Dash* [1]. It served as a major catalyst that shifted the community's primary focus toward difficulty, ranking hard levels, and the idolization of astronomically difficult achievements, thereby driving the push toward increased difficulty in level creation [3-5].
History
Early Demon Rating and Community Reception (2013-2014)
The existence of the "Demon" difficulty rating system is attributed to the level **Demon Park**, which was uploaded on October 17, 2013 [6]. At the time, Demon Park was the hardest level in the game, and its extreme difficulty prompted RobTop to create the "Demon Level" rating [6]. In the early years of *Geometry Dash*, before competitive play was seriously viewed as "a thing," harder levels often received dislikes from the community [4, 7].
Forum Era (2014–2016)
The idea of a formal difficulty list began in late 2014, following the release of update 1.9, when the community was smaller and less focused on difficulty [5, 8].
- Lugia's List (Late 2014): The first official Demon difficulty list was initiated by veteran player Lugia and published on the *Geometry Dash* forums [9]. This list allowed levels to be ranked based on rating alone, not completion, which meant levels like **Silent Club** could hold the number one spot despite having little to no progress [10]. Lugia's list was heavily criticized for being poorly managed, often outdated, and inaccurate due to Lugia’s inactivity [10].
- Ifrusternach's List (April 2015): In April 2015, Ifrusternach launched a spin-off list that was actively managed, featured clear rules, and had better formatting [11]. However, this list also drew criticism because Ifrusternach was not a top player, leading to disagreements from elite players regarding the level placings [11, 12]. The verification of **Bloodbath** by Riot in August 2015 was the first major, legitimately verified Top 1 Demon placed on Ifrusternach’s list [13].
- Riot's List (November 2015): To address management concerns, top player Riot organized a third forum list in mid-November 2015, alongside influential members like Razer, Heinz, Michigan, and Zobros [12]. This rendition closely resembled the modern list, notably introducing the requirement for a minimum percentage threshold for records to be submitted, which helped address the oversaturation of insignificant submissions [14].
Pointercrate and Professionalization
In August 2016, **Cobalt** took over ownership of Riot’s list [15]. He transitioned record submissions from the forums to a Google Form and spreadsheet system [15]. Riot subsequently left the organization in September 2016 [15].
In late 2016, Cobalt convinced **Status**, a Discord bot programmer who lacked professional website building experience, to integrate his bot with the list [16-18]. Status learned website building and, after extensive work, launched the official Demon List website, **Pointercrate**, on April 9, 2017 [19]. The launch was a massive success, increasing community hype and solidifying the list as a professional institution [20].
List Expansion and Points System
Initially, the list contained only the Top 40 levels [21], but due to the abundance of hard levels, it expanded to the **Top 50** [22]. In October 2017, the list expanded again to the **Top 100**, aimed at increasing accessibility and motivation for players seeking to complete Extreme Demons [23].
In July 2019, the list expanded from 100 to **150 slots** (75 Main List and 75 Extended List) [2]. This expansion was driven by the concern that RobTop was rating many Extreme Demons at once, causing levels to be pushed into the Legacy list too quickly [2, 24].
Scoring and List Points
The list points system provides a primary motivation for players [25]. The point value decreases exponentially down the list, reflecting the notion that difficulty increases exponentially towards the top [26].
- List Points Formula: The current formula ensures that the number one ranked demon is worth exactly **150 points**, and the bottom level (number 150) is worth exactly **5 points** [26].
- Progress Points: Players can earn Progress Points for achieving a record above the minimum requirement [27]. The formula grants 10% of the level’s total point value at the minimum required progress, rising exponentially to a maximum of **50%** of the total value as the player approaches completion [27]. The 50% limit is set to encourage players to finish levels they start [27].
Management and Shift System
Throughout its history, the list struggled with managing the overwhelming number of record submissions due to staff quotas and a lack of individual accountability [28, 29].
In September 2019, the **Shift System** was introduced by Gunner Bones to solve this issue [29]. This system divided time into 12-hour slots, and staff members were assigned to these shifts, becoming individually responsible for checking all records submitted during their designated 12-hour window [30]. This provided a more effective system than the previous weekly quotas [29].
Controversies
FPS Bypass Debate
The list faced significant, long-running debates regarding the legitimacy of using an FPS bypass (refresh rate hack) to play the game above the monitor's native refresh rate [31, 32].
- Initial Banning: When the first bypass hack was released by Magoste in November 2016, the staff opposed it, considering it an external modification and a cheat [33, 34]. It was initially "shadow banned" (records rejected without public announcement) [34]. A refined version released in December 2017 by Absolute forced the list to officially ban the bypass on December 20, 2017 [32, 35]. The list argued it was an outside influence granting an advantage, classifying it as a cheat [32].
- Unbanning: The discussion resurfaced in 2020, particularly following the introduction of the "Pie Pass" exploit [36, 37]. The team ultimately reached a consensus to allow the bypass, noting that future updates (2.2) were expected to feature a built-in FPS bypass, and that high refresh rate monitors (High Hertz) were already considered a technical exploit [38, 39]. To maintain consistency, the list decided to allow the FPS bypass for all players [39]. The use of the FPS bypass was officially permitted on May 25, 2020, with a cap set at **300 frames per second** [38, 40].
Notorious Hack-Verified Levels
Several levels were rated as Top 1 despite being illegitimately verified, skewing the early history of the list [41-43].
- **Sonic Wave (Original):** Cyclic hack-verified the level, which was later unrated until Sonix verified it legitimately [44, 45].
- **Zodiac:** Xander 556 hack-verified the level in January 2019, though it was still placed at number one until Technical became the first legitimate victor in April 2019 [46-49].
- **Slaughterhouse:** The first verification was done illegitimately by SpaceUK, although Doggy's subsequent legitimate verification was the one that counted [50-53].
Notable Top 1 Levels
The following table highlights key levels that held the undisputed Top 1 spot on the list, demonstrating significant leaps in community skill and difficulty.
| Level Name | Verifier (Legitimate) | Verification Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demon Park | M2 Cole | October 17, 2013 | The first level to earn the Demon rating [6]. |
| Ice Carbon Diablo X (ICDX) | Riot | May 24, 2015 | Deemed "impossible" until Riot completed it [43, 54]. |
| Cataclysm | Riot | Shortly after ICDX | Riot verified the level to prove it was possible after ICDX [55, 56]. |
| Bloodbath | Riot | August 13, 2015 | Mega collab that was a huge step up in difficulty from its predecessor (Cataclysm) [57]. Held the former record for the longest duration as Top 1 for 1,997 days [57]. |
| Sakupen Hell | Trusta | August 15, 2016 | Dethroned Bloodbath [21]. Was the shortest Top 1 level in history at 50 seconds long [58]. |
| Sonic Wave | Sonix | November 25, 2016 | Verified legitimately after multiple hack-verified versions [22, 44]. Considered a significant step up from Bloodbath [59]. Marked the beginning of the RGB trilogy era [59]. |
| Plasma Pulse Finale (PPF) | xSmokes | January 27, 2018 | Dethroned Sonic Wave [60]. Briefly debated against Blood Lust [60]. |
| Blood Lust | Noble Boy | February 21, 2018 | A buffed and extended version of Bloodbath [61]. Defined a new era of difficulty and required over 121,000 attempts [62, 63]. |
| Zodiac | Technical | April 10, 2019 | Became the first legitimate victor after Xander 556 confessed to hacking [46, 49, 64]. Retained its position for 11 months [47]. |
| TardeRus | Dolphy | February 10, 2020 | Verified following large suspicion of hacking [65]. Held the longest consecutive reign as Top 1 for 418 days until Tidal Wave surpassed it [66, 67]. |
| Acheron | Zoink | 2022 | The second level in Riot's trilogy [68, 69]. |
| Tidal Wave | Zoink | February 2024 | Achieved the longest consecutive reign as the Top 1 level, holding the spot for **471 days**, surpassing TardeRus’s record [66, 70]. |
| Amethyst | W Popoff | 2024 (Current) | The currently perceived hardest level [71]. |
Key Players and Achievements
Riot is credited as the first player to truly start pushing the boundaries of difficulty, verifying levels like ICDX and Cataclysm, and later Bloodbath [4, 54-56].
Other notable players who pushed the list's limits include:
- Trusta: Verified Sakupen Hell and Yatagarasu [21, 72].
- Sonix: Legitimate verifier of Sonic Wave [44].
- Noble Boy: Verifier of Blood Lust [61].
- Technical: First legitimate victor of Zodiac [49, 64].
- nSwish: Became the first player in *Geometry Dash* history to beat the entire Main List (Top 75) in September 2020 [52].
- Zoink: Verified Acheron and Tidal Wave, and has also beaten the entire Main List [68-70, 73].
Notes
References
- [41] EricVanWilderman. "Complete History of TOP 1 Levels in GEOMETRY DASH." YouTube. *Excerpts from the transcript*, retrieved (N/A).
- [99] norkbork. "The Full History of the Geometry Dash Demons List." YouTube. *Excerpts from the transcript*, retrieved (N/A).
Category:Video game culture Category:Online communities
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