Last updated on February 7th, 2026 at 07:40 am
2-bit Cowboy – Action Game Review
2-bit Cowboy is a Action/Adventure game from Cascadia Games LLC, first launched in 8th May 2014.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 20+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes 2-bit Cowboy Stand Out
2-bit Cowboy is a Western action platformer game, styled after classics of the Gameboy era.
'I've got confidence that 2-bit Cowboy will deliver that faux-retro platforming experience I love so much' -Touch Arcade
'2-bit Cowboy is every bit the lost Gameboy title you want it to be' -Gamezebo
There's a new sheriff in this 2-bit town: you! And you've got a lot of work to do. Tackle challenges, earn rewards, track down bad guys, and find hidden loot. Play as a cowboy or cowgirl, then customize your look with hats, bandanas, masks, and more. Explore huge levels. Gamble at casinos and drink at saloons. Ride a horse, tame a wild bull, and traverse underground mines in a minecart. Become a legend of the old West.
- Customizable cowboy characters
- Huge levels to explore
- Gamble at casinos and drink at saloons
- Earn bits, buy powerups and costumes
- Ride horses, bulls, and minecarts
- Gameboy style retro graphics
- Gamepad support
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This Action game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, 2-bit Cowboy is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 2nd December 2015
Recent improvements include:
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
-Upgrade for 64 bit
-Added App previews
Download & Availability
2-bit Cowboy is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Im only eleven but we love retro stuff we had a walkman and gameboy and this makes us think of those games sooooooooooooo worth the 0.99 cents!! – linc juckette.
Just installed this again on our iPhone 6S and it's just as much fun as when we played it all the way back at release. Controls are great, soundtrack is on point and the level designs make it worth exploring :) throw in the Saloon, Doctor, and Casino shops and this is a really fun and challenging little Westernvania :).
It's easily worth what you pay it's a fun little game with many objectives to complete, but the only thing you get to upgrade is the cowboy's attire, and well the bit graphics kinda make it difficult to detail. We would imagine a game like this would benefit from having a different art style. Also it's best to buy the game in the bundle you get both it, and it's sequel 2 bit cowboy rides again.
Decent little game but lost its appeal in an hour.
The screen is so small and its stuck in the corner we cant see.
You know you can't trust a game when the horse you're riding vanishes mid-jump, and doesn't respawn but the game keeps prompting you to jump on it.
Thanks, because the game would be great if it worked.
We had originally bought this game a few years ago at a buck and loved it. Then they updated it and the original purchase wouldnt play. Whatever, it was just a buck. Then this new one becomes available, Awesome! We pay another buck to play this game, totally worth it… Wrong! This new version is a super close up of the screen. You cant even play it. Its a joke. Imagine playing Mario with one inch notice. Every move is pretty much a blind jump into whatever. So lame. We would ask for a refund but who cares… We would advise its just not worth a lame game that could be so great. If youre the developer reading this, please go back to the old game. What a waste if you keep this nonsense going on.
We love this game but havent played in a while. We just loaded it and the main menu and first video is full screen but then the game its self is 1/4 the size in the left corner. Please fix the game.
Someone recommend this game as a metroidvania style game. Oh man were they WRONG! This game has: No point. No reward for 100% on levels. No upgrades. Poor play control. Levels that take 5 seconds to finish. We're sorry we ever bought it.
This game is awesome and feels exactly like a Game Boy game! You guys nailed it! However, the music doesn't fit the game. The music makes us want to fall asleep. Make some upbeat country songs & your game'll be finer than a ten gallon hat filled with Texas sweet tea.
…or snakes, scorpions, and carniverous fish. Great game, lots of fun.
Reminds us of a Game Boy game from the days of the past. Great game, have had no issues with it. Only thing we could say is make the tunes fit the graphics and make more than one song for the different levels. Not a deal breaker, but certainly something to consider. Thank you for making this and please make more games.
This game is intended to be retro, and it fits that goal perfectly. It is fun, as long as you aren't expecting modern Wii type of complexity or other features the game doesn't offer. We like it the way it is and it hasn't crashed on 8.1.
The horse doesn't save you from any damage and you can't shoot any enemies because your bullets go over them. Just remove the horse or make the bullets track the nearest target.
With a name like 2-bit cowboy and old game boy style visuals, why doesn't this game have 2-bit tunes? It's seriously just a half-assed western song that plays the whole game. COMPLETELY ruins the whole atmosphere, we don't feel like we're playing a "retro" game at all.. Same goes for sound effects.
The game is fun but we're stuck on level 2 because the game keeps crashing fix it please.
It looks and plays like an old school Game Boy platformer. But the simplistic enemy behavior (mostly just moving back and forth) and uninspired level design keep this from being interesting once the retro appeal has worn off. Everything there is to see is in the first level, and we mean everything. The rest of the levels feel like rearrangements of the first.
Great game to bad every time we get close to the end of a level it freezes.
Game is fun, if pretty simple. Crashes very frequently at least on iOS 8.
But game is bugged. The wall jump simply does not work. Sometimes it decides to work and sometimes it flat out does not and won't even slide as you push toward it. And the armadillos glitch through the floor and roll through walls. Fix the bugs and you might have a pretty enjoyable game.
This game is a lot more complex than it looks at first, featuring large level maps with hidden areas and sometimes difficult missions, with numerous stores and gameplay enhancements… All within a clever and nostalgic retro-style creation. The spaghetti-western action and storyline is kind of a unique touch, and gives added dimension to this very fun game.
Love this game but it need more levels.
This game is a lot of fun and definitely has the nostalgic feeling we were looking for. Needs more levels though.
We love the retro style but the 12 levels go by too fast and the bad guys could be a tad bit tougher.
After playing through a few levels, you'll discover that the only challenge is finding the exit to each level. Then the real challenge begins: can you finish the game despite boredom? Great retro graphics and controls are pretty good too, but it falls short on the level design, and the physics could have been tweaked for faster gameplay.
We absolutely love this game. If you like Mario or Donkey Kong Country this is the game for you, only better you have a gun!!!! The only issue we would change would be, more levels.
Plenty of retro style games on the App Store aren't really as deep as you'd like them to be. The graphics are just a nostalgic ploy to hide shallow gameplay. Happily, 2-Bit Cowboy is absolutely NOT like those other games. It's a platformer that really delivers on many fronts. Graphically it will remind you of your old gameboy (right down to the stuttering graphics when you shoot/get shot). Game play feels like mega man, the level design feels like the bigger more open "hey come look around" style of kid chameleon or vector man. Slap a western theme on it and you have a fantastic game. The 8 year old in us would've loved to play this in his gameboy. The 27 year old us is happy to have this on his iPhone 4 and thinks .99 is a steal for such a great game.
Ok this game makes us wanna go to an arcade and play some mario its retro heaven love the simple controls and maps love doing quests and killing those gangs of robers like the minecart journeys and much more also this game has sick player custumization but ine problem there are onlt 11 levels which we beat in a day campleating most of the quests soo PLZ ADD MORE LEVELS by the time you finish the only thing left to do is get every face mask belt and hat.
This game is SO fun! Reminds us of old Game Boy games like Ninja Turtles. We really hope they make more levels – we have mild depression now that we've beat them all.
Also, make an 8 bit version…add color.
Need more levels and upgrades! Awesome first edition game.
First off, this is an amazing game! The controls are great, the death penalty is perfect, and everything looks amazing in it's 8-bit way! The only thing we don't like is that you cant turn the screen upside down so it is hard to play with headphones. Other than that it is a great game. All we ask for is to add more customization options. If you are thinking to buy it, we highly recommend it because it is perfectly priced! If you have read this entire thing we thank you so much.
The whole theme is a sweet combination of cool but adorable! We love that we get to be a cowgirl.
The game is aesthetically pleasing. It's the controls that really lack. We die way too often because the cowboy jumps in the opposite direction of the button we pushed. If you double jump you can only shoot down. The controls stick sometimes. The only reason our rating is 5 stars is because we expect the best from Crescent Moon and know they will keep the updates coming.
Game is a must buy if you like action platformers with a touch of retro goodness.
This is a great little platformer. Easy to pick up and play on the go. Lots of challenges each level. The goal is not just to get to the exit, but to try and finish every challenge on that level. Great graphics and animation that brings back that original gameboy nostalgia. Gameplay mechanics are great. We just hope they add more levels and costumes in the future. It would also be nice if the music was chip tune to be fully retro. Also they need to be able to allow the screen to rotate to either side. This game is well worth the 99 cents.
This game is just simply great and fun with great controls and a great price levels are fun and bring a good range of difficulty which is great. This is just really good highly recommend getting this game.
Excellent platformer, with many challenges for each level and good variety. Controls are spot on and (of course) the monochrome graphics are just awesome. If we had one wish: items that are bought and equipped that were tied to a stat system, and would increase health, weapon firing speed, and jump. Still though, awesome game.
Takes us right back to playing original Game Boy. Fast and responsive controls. Love it.
We only played for 5 seconds and we already know that this is a "GEM".
Each level gives you a lot of stuff to do, and riding around on the ours cars, horses and bulls is pretty great. The physics feel good, the art is fun, the levels seem very well planned out. Highly recommended for any platformer fans.
Reminds us of GameBoy games when we were a kid.
This is an excellent platforming mini objective shoot em up. Controls are tight both bluetooth mfi or on screen virtual buttons. Get this game don't think just do.
We only write reviews for games we love and hate…this one we absolutely love! Ya wanna know why we love it?….we'll we're now gonna tell you…we guess you are gonna have to find out for yourself.
Definitely worth it awesome game takes you back.
This game has a charming old-school feel mixed with simple, fun, and effective gameplay mechanics that work well. This is not a simple "get from point A to point B without dying" style platformer; rather, there are large levels that feature mounts, stores, hidden areas, bounties, and objectives. The bounties and objectives are found on papers scattered throughout the levels, and award you coins based on their difficulty. The bounties are what you'd imagine, while the objectives involve everything from shooting bottles to capturing sheep – they often require backtracking and exploration, and really add to the fun. The coins that you earn can be used to give your character a new look, and there are lots of customization options available. This game is well-polished, and other than the buttons being a bit too small (on the iPad mini retina), it controls great, and the retro graphics look awesome. It contains some of the best gameplay elements found in classic NES games like Castlevania, Mario Bros, and Metroid, but it is more than the sum of its parts and not just another copycat – it is entirely its own game and a great deal of fun in its own right. We would recommend this to anyone that ever had an original Gameboy and wants to scratch that nostalgic itch while experiencing something new, and/or fans of good platforming adventurer games – this one will satisfy both.
So far so fun. Played through the first level. Love the old school graphics it really does feel like an old gameboy title. Controls are tight and responsive. Levels are large and have lots of optional objectives. Certainly worth the money.
This is an awesome flashback to the good old days of the long road trips and your best game on the Nintendo Game Boy. We're definitely having skit of fun with thus game. There's so much going on but it's so much fun. We're really looking forward to future updates and more more more. Such a great price for an endless amount of fun. We love it so much we want to wear the T-shirt.
The levels are surprisingly big. There are lots of things to collect. It's easier for us to play than a lot of platformers.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.04
- Size: 40.07 MB
- iOS: 8.1 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Cascadia Games LLC
Last updated: 2nd December 2015 | Genre: Action, Adventure | Developer: Cascadia Games LLC