Diwali games you can play online
I tried ten of them on my phone and laptop. Here's what each one is actually like.
First, a disclosure. I made one of the games on this list, Virtual Diwali. I've tried to be fair to the others, and mine is in here like everything else, weak spots included. Nobody paid to be on this page, and none of these links earn me anything.
The short version
- Something Diwali-themed in the browser, with a lot to do: Diwali Mela Online.
- Just fireworks to watch, and to tweak if you like: Grand Finale.
- A PC, and happy to pay: Fireworks Mania on Steam. I haven't played it, but its reviews are hard to argue with.
- An Android app: Fireworks Play has the most variety of the apps I tried. It isn't about Diwali, though, and it's 273 MB.
- Something to read with kids: Google Arts & Culture's Diwali pages. It isn't a game.
Most of the Diwali cracker apps I tried were very simple and full of ads. If that's what you want to avoid, stick to the browser games.
At a glance
| Game | Where | Ads | What you do | My take |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diwali Mela Online | Browser | None seen | Walk around a 3D Diwali mela | The best of the other browser games |
| Grand Finale | Browser | None seen | Watch, or set up, a fireworks show | Lovely to look at; open the settings |
| DiyaVerse | Browser | None seen | Light a diya with a wish on a shared wall | A guestbook more than a game |
| Diya Dash | Browser | None | Catch falling diyas, dodge smoke | A game jam entry, a few minutes of fun |
| Google Arts & Culture | Browser | None | Read about Diwali, look at photos | Not a game; good for kids |
| Virtual Diwali (mine) | Browser | None | Light 108 diyas down to a river, burst crackers | Heavy to load; you judge the rest |
| Light Up the Skies | Android | None | Tap the sky, fireworks go off | Very simple |
| Diwali Crackers Simulator | Android | Yes, before you start | Pick a cracker, watch it go off | Very little to it |
| Diwali Fireworks Play 3D Show | Android | Yes, after every cracker | Light 3D crackers on a plaza | Too many ads |
| Fireworks Play | Android, iPhone | Yes, before you start | 3D fireworks in different scenes | Most variety; not about Diwali |
In the browser, nothing to install
Diwali Mela Online
Browser · Free, no login, no ads that I saw · 0.8 MB to start · diwali-mela-online.vercel.app
A 3D Diwali fair you walk around. There's a giant wheel, a balloon shooting stall, ring toss, a rangoli courtyard where you colour in the petals, a mandir where you light seven diyas, and crackers like anar, chakri and rockets. The site says you can play with friends, and there's an Invite Friends button.
It's the closest thing to an open world on this list, and there's a lot to do. The controls took me a while to get used to, and a lit phuljhadi sometimes got in my way. With that many buttons it can feel more like an app than a place. Still, it's a proper game and clearly made with care.
Good for: a Diwali mela feel in the browser. It has an Invite Friends button, but I didn't try playing with friends.
Grand Finale: 3D Fireworks Simulator
Browser · Free, no login, no ads that I saw · 0.4 MB to start · by Chris Pirillo · arcade.pirillo.com
When I opened it, it felt like a demo: fireworks go off over a lake and you watch. That's a fair first impression, but there's more behind the menu button in the corner. You can pick from 43 kinds of shells, change the colours and the scene, sync the show to a song, and record it as a video. You can also tap the sky to launch your own.
It isn't about Diwali, there are no crackers on the ground, and there's no goal beyond the show. As a fireworks toy, it was the one I most liked looking at, and at 0.4 MB it was the lightest page I measured.
Good for: a few calm minutes of fireworks, or making a fireworks clip.
DiyaVerse
Browser · Free, no login · 0.7 MB to start · diyaverse.vercel.app
You pick a diya style, write a short wish (in English, Hindi or Hinglish), and your diya joins a wall of everyone else's. There's a small music player and a short Ramayana quiz too.
It's sweet, but it's closer to an old guestbook than a game: a form, and then a wall. If you just want to leave a wish somewhere, it does that nicely.
Good for: leaving a Diwali wish in a shared place.
Diya Dash: Anaya and the Stolen Lights
Browser (itch.io) · Free · about 1.3 MB · by Treniad29 · treniad29.itch.io/diya-dash
Anaya catches falling diyas to bring her village's lights back, while dodging the smoke clouds of Dhumra, a smoke imp. The art is lovely. The game itself is a simple catch-the-falling-things game over five stages.
It was made for a student game jam (NID Fall Jam 2026), and it's a short five-stage game: a fun few minutes. The page says it works with touch on phones; I played it on my laptop.
Good for: younger kids, for a few minutes.
Google Arts & Culture: Diwali
Browser · Free · 3.2 MB to start · artsandculture.google.com/project/diwali
This isn't a game. It's a collection of stories, photos and short articles about Diwali and its five days, from museums and archives. There's also a Diwali jigsaw, which I didn't try.
It felt more like Wikipedia than play to me. But if you want something to read through with kids, the museum and archive material is a good place to start.
Good for: learning about Diwali.
Google's "Diwali" search surprise
In 2024, searching "Diwali" on Google gave you a diya you could drag around to light others (Times of India wrote about it). In 2025 it was a little Lakshmi Puja mandir you could tap (here).
On 3 November 2026 I searched "Diwali" on my phone and nothing happened. It may still turn up closer to Diwali.
Virtual Diwali (the one I made)
Browser · Free, no login, no ads · 3.2 MB to start, tied for the heaviest page here · virtualdiwali.com
You walk from a house, through a lane and a chowk, down the steps to a river ghat, lighting 108 diyas on the way. Sixteen boxes of crackers are hidden around the lanes. Drone and laser shows go up over the river every few minutes, you can send a lantern into a sky that everyone playing shares, and lighting the last diya starts a finale. If you only want the crackers, the fireworks simulator gives you all of them, with no limit.
Where it falls short: it's one of the two heaviest pages here (3.2 MB) and needs a fairly recent phone. On average it takes about 8 seconds to reach the start screen. Instagram's and Facebook's built-in browsers often can't run it, so open it in Chrome or Safari. And it's a Diwali night, not a deep fireworks sandbox like Fireworks Mania.
Good for: a Diwali night out by the river, from anywhere.
Phone apps
I tried these on an Android phone. Install counts and ratings are from Google Play on 3 November 2026.
Light Up the Skies: Diwali
Android · Free, no ads, in-app purchases · 5K+ installs · by GEM CREATORS · updated 31 Oct 2026 · Google Play
You tap the sky and fireworks go off, with the Red Fort or another landmark behind them. The store page lists 37 kinds of Indian crackers and an AR mode, but what I played was mostly tapping the sky. It also signs you into Google Play Games.
It's very simple. It does have no ads, which is rare among these apps.
Good for: a quick fireworks show on a phone, ad-free.
Diwali Crackers Simulator Game
Android · Free with ads and in-app purchases · 1M+ installs, rated about 4.1 · by Green Lotus Games · updated 10 Feb 2026 · Google Play
An ad played before the game had even started. Then you pick a cracker, it sits in front of a monument, and a 2D animation plays when you light it. An ad banner stays at the top while you play.
For an app with over a million installs, there's very little to it.
Good for: hard to recommend; the ads outweigh the game.
Diwali Fireworks Play 3D Show
Android · Free with ads and in-app purchases · 1M+ installs, rated about 3.7 · by Pixasoft Infotech · updated 2 Dec 2025 · Google Play
Simple 3D crackers on a paved plaza. You have to watch ads to unlock crackers, and another ad comes after almost every cracker. There's no story and no goal.
Too many ads for very little fun.
Good for: only if you don't mind an ad after nearly every cracker.
Fireworks Play
Android and iPhone · Free with ads and in-app purchases · 10M+ installs, rated about 4.4 · by Simplay Studio · 273 MB · updated 13 Oct 2026 · Google Play · App Store
Not Diwali-themed. It's a 3D fireworks game with several scenes to choose from and a good variety of fireworks. It showed an ad before the game, felt a little slow on my phone, and I found it hard to work out what to do.
Fun once, then it gets a bit boring.
Good for: the most variety in an app, if you don't mind the download.
Didn't play these, but they're worth knowing
- Fireworks Mania (Steam, Windows). ₹599, or ₹389 on sale until 9 November. A physics sandbox for fireworks, with co-op and lots of fireworks made by players. On Steam, 97% of its 2,953 English reviews are positive ("Overwhelmingly Positive"). It came out in December 2020 and still gets updates. If you have a gaming PC and want realism, this is the one people point to.
- Fireworks Playground (Roblox). Over 145 million visits, updated 31 October 2026. Needs a Roblox account.
- DIWALI FESTIVAL (Minecraft Bedrock Marketplace). A festive world with fireworks, 160 Minecoins.
- Diwali Fireworks Festival Game (iPhone). Brand new (October 2026), free with ads, no ratings yet. Its store page describes levels across the five nights of Diwali.
Facts above are from the Steam, Roblox, Minecraft and App Store pages on 3 November 2026.
What I left out, and why
- Copycat apps. Some publishers put out several near-identical cracker apps, and one "Diwali fireworks" app turned out to be a renamed fashion game still carrying its old 2-star reviews.
- Apps that are gone. Seven Diwali cracker and diya apps that still show up in search results have been taken off the stores.
- Diwali Lights. A colour-matching puzzle with Diwali lights that appears on several game sites, with different ads on each. Fine as a puzzle, but there isn't much Diwali in it.
- Brand games. Every year a few brands put out a Diwali web game or a Roblox event. I couldn't find any that are live this week; they tend to vanish after the festival.
- VR. I couldn't find a Diwali game for Meta Quest.
Is there a Diwali game on Poki or CrazyGames?
Not that I could find, on either site, as of November 2026. Neither has a fireworks simulator either. A few look-alike sites with similar names do list "Diwali" games, so check the address bar.
How I tested
I played each browser game on my laptop in Chrome and each app on an Android phone, for five to ten minutes each, on 3 November 2026. The screenshots are mine. "To start" is how much each page downloaded until it went quiet, in Chrome on a laptop with an empty cache, measured the same way for every page. Installs, ratings and prices come from Google Play, Steam and the App Store on the same day, so they'll have moved by the time you read this. I'll update this page before Diwali each year.
How this page was made
I used an AI assistant to help find the games, check the store pages and turn my notes into this page. I played everything I say I played, the opinions are mine, and so are the screenshots.