About

Lobotomy Dash refers to a loose set of user-created Geometry Dash levels that share the common theme of brain rot and include elements such as warped Difficulty Faces, heavy visual effects, shifts in music and Fire in the Hole sound effect. The phrase uses the slang term "lobotomy" as a way to describe the chaotic and nonsensical nature of the memes. The trend achieved major popularity in the Geometry Dash community following the release of the 2.2 update for the game in late December 2023, which added new features for the level editor.

Origin

On December 19th, 2023, major update 2.2 for the rhythm platformer video game Geometry Dash was released.^[1] The update added new features for the level editor, including multiple new triggers such as scale trigger and camera manipulation triggers (release trailer shown below).

Prior to December 22nd, user GhostMikiii uploaded a level titled "Lobotomy Dash," an edited version of the original "Stereo Madness" level to which multiple triggers were added, including Normal Face jumpscares, time being sped up and slowed down and the screen getting pixelated. The level received over 214,000 downloads and 24,000 thumbs up in one week (playthrough^[2] shown below).

Spread

As the level went viral, multiple users uploaded more "lobotomy" levels in the following days, many of the default levels' edits featuring visual distortions, jumpscares, changes in tempo and, notably, the "Fire in the hole" sound effect. Some of the most popular levels uploaded during this period include "Lobotomy Madness" by WaffleLover, "Lobotomy Dash" by Wrutz, "Lobotomy on Track" by itzQAZ1X and "Lobotomy Force" by RallyArk.

On December 23rd, 2023, videos of users playing the levels started going viral on TikTok. For example, on that day TikTok^[3] user lemon.0225 posted a gameplay video of "Base After Lobotomy" by Vitalorganfailu that received over 2.5 million views and 269,000 likes on the platform in one week (shown below, left). On December 24th, TikTok^[4] user @cereal86 posted a gameplay video of "Scary Level" by PsFish5 that received over 500,000 views and 78,700 likes in five days (shown below, right).

More videos within the trend went viral on TikTok, YouTube and Reddit in the following days. On December 28th, 2023, Geometry Dash developer RopTop replied to an X post with "FIRE IN THE HOLE," referencing the meme (shown below).^[5]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References