Phaser 4 -- Sprite Animations

AnimationManager (global), AnimationState (per-sprite), creating animations from spritesheets and atlases, playing/pausing/chaining, animation events, frame callbacks.

Related skills: ../sprites-and-images/SKILL.md, ../loading-assets/SKILL.md

Quick Start

// In preload -- load a spritesheet
this.load.spritesheet('explosion', 'explosion.png', {
    frameWidth: 64,
    frameHeight: 64
});

// In create -- define a global animation
this.anims.create({
    key: 'explode',
    frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('explosion', { start: 0, end: 11 }),
    frameRate: 24,
    repeat: 0
});

// Play it on a sprite
const sprite = this.add.sprite(400, 300, 'explosion');
sprite.play('explode');

Core Concepts

AnimationManager vs AnimationState

Phaser has two distinct animation objects:

The AnimationManager is a singleton owned by the Game. Animations registered there are available in every Scene. The AnimationState lives on each Sprite and handles playback for that specific object.

An Animation is a sequence of AnimationFrame objects plus timing data. Created via this.anims.create(config) (global) or sprite.anims.create(config) (local to one sprite).

Local vs Global Animations

When sprite.anims.play(key) is called, it first checks for a local animation with that key, then falls back to the global AnimationManager. Use local for sprite-specific animations; use global when shared across sprites.

// Global animation -- available to all sprites
this.anims.create({ key: 'walk', frames: 'player_walk', frameRate: 12, repeat: -1 });

// Local animation -- only on this sprite
sprite.anims.create({ key: 'walk', frames: 'npc_walk', frameRate: 10, repeat: -1 });

// This plays the LOCAL version because local takes priority
sprite.play('walk');

Common Patterns

Spritesheet Animation

Use generateFrameNumbers for spritesheets (numeric frame indices).

this.load.spritesheet('dude', 'dude.png', { frameWidth: 32, frameHeight: 48 });

// All frames
this.anims.create({
    key: 'run',
    frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('dude', { start: 0, end: 7 }),
    frameRate: 10,
    repeat: -1
});

// Custom frame sequence
this.anims.create({
    key: 'idle',
    frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('dude', { frames: [0, 1, 2, 1] }),
    frameRate: 6,
    repeat: -1
});

generateFrameNumbers config:

• start (default 0) -- first frame index
• end (default -1, meaning last frame) -- final frame index
• first -- a single frame to prepend before the range
• frames -- explicit array of frame indices (overrides start/end)

Atlas Animation

Use generateFrameNames for texture atlases (string-based frame names).

this.load.atlas('gems', 'gems.png', 'gems.json');

this.anims.create({
    key: 'ruby_sparkle',
    frames: this.anims.generateFrameNames('gems', {
        prefix: 'ruby_',
        start: 1,
        end: 6,
        zeroPad: 4   // produces ruby_0001 through ruby_0006
    }),
    frameRate: 12,
    repeat: -1
});

generateFrameNames config:

• prefix -- prepended to each frame number
• suffix -- appended after each frame number
• start, end -- numeric range
• zeroPad -- left-pad numbers to this length with zeros
• frames -- explicit array of frame numbers (overrides start/end)

If you call generateFrameNames(key) with no config, it returns all frames from the atlas.

String as Frames

Pass a texture key string as frames to use all frames from that texture, sorted numerically by default. Set sortFrames: false to disable sorting.

this.anims.create({ key: 'walk', frames: 'player_walk', frameRate: 12, repeat: -1 });

Yoyo and Repeat

this.anims.create({
    key: 'pulse',
    frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('orb', { start: 0, end: 5 }),
    frameRate: 10,
    yoyo: true,       // plays forward then backward
    repeat: -1,       // -1 = forever
    repeatDelay: 500   // ms pause between each repeat cycle
});

When yoyo is true, the animation plays forward then reverses. The full cycle counts as one play.

Chaining Animations

sprite.play('attack');
sprite.chain('idle');                        // play idle after attack completes
sprite.chain(['fall', 'land', 'idle']);       // chain multiple
sprite.anims.chain();                        // clear the chain queue

Chaining is per-sprite. Chained animations start after animationcomplete or animationstop. An animation with repeat: -1 never completes -- call stop() to trigger the chain.

Playing in Reverse

// Play an animation from last frame to first
sprite.playReverse('walk');

// Reverse direction mid-playback
sprite.anims.reverse();

playReverse sets forward = false and inReverse = true. The reverse() method toggles direction mid-playback.

Play Variants

sprite.play('walk', true);                   // ignoreIfPlaying = true
sprite.anims.playAfterDelay('walk', 1000);   // play after 1s delay
sprite.anims.playAfterRepeat('walk', 2);     // play after current anim repeats 2x

Animation Mixing

Adds a transition delay between two specific animations, set globally on the AnimationManager.

this.anims.addMix('idle', 'walk', 200);
this.anims.addMix('walk', 'idle', 300);

sprite.play('idle');
sprite.play('walk');   // 200ms mix delay applied automatically

this.anims.removeMix('idle', 'walk');   // remove specific pair
this.anims.removeMix('idle');           // remove all mixes for 'idle'

Mix delays only apply with sprite.play(), not playAfterDelay or playAfterRepeat.

Pause, Resume, and Stop

sprite.anims.pause();                 // pause per-sprite
sprite.anims.resume();                // resume per-sprite
this.anims.pauseAll();                // global pause
this.anims.resumeAll();               // global resume

sprite.anims.stop();                  // stop immediately
sprite.anims.stopAfterDelay(2000);    // stop after 2 seconds
sprite.anims.stopAfterRepeat(1);      // stop after 1 more repeat
sprite.anims.stopOnFrame(frame);      // stop when a specific frame is reached

All stop methods fire animationstop (not animationcomplete). Chained animations trigger after stop.

Animation Events

sprite.on('animationcomplete', (anim, frame, gameObject, frameKey) => {
    console.log('completed:', anim.key);
});

// Key-specific complete -- only fires for the named animation
sprite.on('animationcomplete-explode', (anim, frame, gameObject, frameKey) => {
    gameObject.destroy();
});

Available events: animationstart, animationcomplete, animationcomplete-{key}, animationupdate, animationstop, animationrepeat, animationrestart. All share the same callback signature: (animation, frame, gameObject, frameKey).

Frame-Level Callbacks via animationupdate

sprite.on('animationupdate', (anim, frame, gameObject, frameKey) => {
    if (anim.key === 'attack' && frame.index === 4) {
        this.checkHit(gameObject);
    }
});

Per-Frame Duration

Individual frames can have a duration (ms) that is added to the base msPerFrame.

this.anims.create({
    key: 'combo',
    frames: [
        { key: 'fighter', frame: 'punch1', duration: 50 },
        { key: 'fighter', frame: 'kick', duration: 200 },   // hold longer
        { key: 'fighter', frame: 'recover', duration: 100 }
    ],
    frameRate: 24
});

Visibility, Random Start, and TimeScale

// Visibility control
this.anims.create({
    key: 'appear', frames: 'sparkle', frameRate: 12,
    showOnStart: true,      // sprite.visible = true when anim starts (after delay)
    hideOnComplete: true,   // sprite.visible = false when anim completes
    showBeforeDelay: true   // show first frame immediately even during delay
});

// Random start frame -- each sprite begins on a different frame
this.anims.create({
    key: 'ambient', frames: 'fire', frameRate: 10, repeat: -1,
    randomFrame: true
});

// TimeScale -- per-sprite or global speed control
sprite.anims.timeScale = 2;                         // 2x speed
sprite.play({ key: 'walk', timeScale: 0.5 });       // half speed via config
this.anims.globalTimeScale = 0.5;                    // affects ALL animations

Staggered Playback

const enemies = this.add.group({ key: 'enemy', repeat: 9 });
this.anims.staggerPlay('walk', enemies.getChildren(), 100);
// Each sprite starts 100ms after the previous. Pass staggerFirst: false to skip delay on first.

JSON Export and Import

// Export all global animations to JSON
const data = this.anims.toJSON();

// Import animations from JSON (pass true to clear existing animations first)
this.anims.fromJSON(data);
this.anims.fromJSON(data, true);

// Check before creating to avoid duplicate warning
if (!this.anims.exists('walk')) {
    this.anims.create({ key: 'walk', frames: 'player_walk', frameRate: 12, repeat: -1 });
}

Modifying Animation Frames at Runtime

const anim = this.anims.get('walk');

// Add frames to the end
anim.addFrame(this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('player', { start: 8, end: 10 }));

// Insert frames at a specific index
anim.addFrameAt(this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('player', { frames: [5] }), 2);

// Remove a specific frame object
const frame = anim.frames[3];
anim.removeFrame(frame);

// Remove frame at index
anim.removeFrameAt(0);

Aseprite Support

this.load.aseprite('paladin', 'paladin.png', 'paladin.json');
// In create:
this.anims.createFromAseprite('paladin');               // all tags
this.anims.createFromAseprite('paladin', ['walk']);      // specific tags only
sprite.play('walk');                                     // play by tag name

Configuration Reference

AnimationConfig (used with this.anims.create())

PlayAnimationConfig (used with sprite.play())

All AnimationConfig timing properties are available, plus:

Values in PlayAnimationConfig override the animation definition for this specific playback instance.

Duration vs FrameRate Priority

• If both duration and frameRate are null: defaults to 24 fps.
• If only duration is set: frameRate is calculated as totalFrames / (duration / 1000).
• If frameRate is set (even if duration is also set): frameRate wins, and duration is derived as (totalFrames / frameRate) * 1000.

Events

Sprite Event Flow

1. animationstart -- after delay expires, before first update
2. animationupdate -- each frame change
3. animationrepeat -- each repeat cycle
4. animationcomplete -- natural end (finite repeat)
5. animationcomplete-{key} -- same, with animation key appended

Stopped manually: animationstop fires instead of complete. Restarted mid-play: animationrestart fires.

All callbacks: (animation, frame, gameObject, frameKey).

AnimationManager Events

Fire on this.anims: addanimation, removeanimation, pauseall, resumeall.

API Quick Reference

AnimationManager (this.anims)

AnimationState (sprite.anims)

Key properties: isPlaying, hasStarted, currentAnim, currentFrame, forward, inReverse, timeScale.

Gotchas

1. Animations are global by default. this.anims.create() registers across all Scenes. Do not recreate in every Scene -- it logs a warning and returns the existing one.
2. repeat: -1 never fires animationcomplete. Use stop() to end infinite animations. Listen for animationstop instead.
3. frameRate beats duration. If both are set, frameRate wins. Set only duration (leave frameRate null) to control total length.
4. Per-frame duration is additive. Added on top of base msPerFrame, not a replacement.
5. play() stops the current animation (fires animationstop). Use play(key, true) to skip if already playing.
6. Mix delays only work with play(). playAfterDelay/playAfterRepeat bypass mixes.
7. Local animations override global. Same key on a sprite's local map takes priority.
8. Sprite shorthand methods. sprite.play(), sprite.playReverse(), sprite.chain(), sprite.stop() wrap sprite.anims.*.
9. Chained anims fire after stop too. Clear the queue with sprite.anims.chain() before stopping if unwanted.
10. generateFrameNumbers end=-1 means last frame. The __BASE frame is excluded automatically.

Source File Map