ATLAS / IDEAS

Game design atlas

Find a mechanism, understand its tradeoffs and smallest useful scope, then build your game with a design card and sample project.

192 Mechanisms32 Mechanism domain48 Art styles12 Genre guides

Art styles My research shelf Rain Canopy Workshop · Try the complete prototype Pixel toolkit

A paper fox explores a river village built from layered cardstock and folded trees.

Art styles

Papercraft

The world is paper cut into layers. Depth comes from the stack, a narrow edge, and one hard shadow. Color can stay pure.

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Characters and scenery are separate sheets, so motion shows who is in front
Thickness is a narrow side, and the shadow is short and hard
Creases and uneven paper are welcome, but the scene should not become a photo
Tears and holes can be boundaries the player passes

Reference gamesTengami · Paper Mario: The Origami King

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A handmade clay snail, mushroom cottage and garden with tactile sculpted surfaces.

Art styles

Clay-like forms

Rounded masses, tool marks and tangible surfaces suggest modeled clay. Physical stop-motion and digital 3D can both achieve the look through different production routes.

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Character: clay masses with sparse tool marks; Scene: coherent handmade scale; UI: clear text and clay-like symbols
Choose continuous 3D motion or deliberate stop-motion holds; mixing them needs a clear rule.
Are tool marks/material scale consistent, and do details shimmer in motion?

Reference gamesArmikrog · Claybook

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Art styles

Yarn and knitting

Threads, loops and fibers keep a coherent scale across characters and props. Yarn may construct a character or an entire miniature world.

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Scale loops with objects
Keep overall silhouettes clear
Subordinate fibers to interaction clarity

Reference gamesUnravel · Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn

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Art styles

Stitched fabric and plush

Seams, stuffed volumes and stable textile surfaces create a plush appearance. The focus is fabric panels rather than exposed strands.

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Let seams support construction
Keep textile scale consistent
Give stuffed forms clear silhouettes

Reference gamesSackboy™: A Big Adventure · LittleBigPlanet 3

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Art styles

Plastic-brick construction

Discrete parts, connection rules and plastic surfaces form a construction world. An original project needs its own part and connector language.

See the traits

Unify part scale and connectors
Make joins understandable
Keep gloss off essential placement cues

Reference gamesLEGO® Builder's Journey · LEGO® Bricktales

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Art styles

Physical miniature production

Physical sets or figures enter games through photography, scanning or digital integration. Unlike digital dioramas, physical fabrication is part of the workflow.

See the traits

Choose capture or scanning first
Match physical scale and digital collision
Unify lighting, camera and color management

Reference gamesLumino City · Harold Halibut

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Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.