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

An original pear courier with curved rubber limbs leaps through a painted garden.

Art styles

Rubber-hose cartoon

Soft curved limbs and exaggerated poses let a character bend like a rubber hose. Motion rhythm and silhouette define the style; black and white is only one palette choice.

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Joints may disappear while movement direction and contact points stay clear
Anticipation leads into an exaggerated action and a readable settling pose
A rich painted backdrop leaves key character poses as simple large shapes
Film grain stays subtle and never flickers over text, hit areas or warnings

Reference gamesCuphead · MOUSE: P.I. For Hire

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Ink contours, blue-red color blocks and halftone dots depict a courier jumping a street gap.

Art styles

Comic halftone

Ink contours, solid color groups and regular printed dots build an interactive comic image. Dots handle tone; panel-like framing and motion marks emphasize events without hiding rules.

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Contours separate character and scenery before dots add selected midtones
Dot size is designed for the final display so thumbnails avoid distracting moire
Motion strokes, framing and impact shapes highlight events rather than filling every moment
Text and interaction markers sit on clean areas away from shaded texture

Reference gamesVoid Bastards · XIII - Classic

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Art styles

Watercolor

Pigment blooms on paper, edges keep some white, and the wash has depth. The mood can be soft, but paths, people, and danger need a darker stroke or a ring of paper.

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Important objects use a darker edge or a white gap, not a sealed ink line
One hue varies like a water stain, and pure black is rare
Paper grain stays light enough to leave motion readable
Interactive things keep one stable mark, such as a darker ring

Reference gamesGRIS · Dordogne

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Art styles

Clean contour drawing

Clear contours, sparse internal marks and open space describe figures and objects. Flat color is possible without ink washes or dense volume hatching.

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Character: few clear contours; Scene: grouped lines and open space; UI: heavier symbols and clean text fields
Keep stroke width and closed forms stable; poses can communicate direction before effects.
Can you distinguish targets, decoration and text, and do neighboring lines merge when reduced?

Reference gamesHidden Folks · TOEM: A Photo Adventure

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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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Visible impasto brushstrokes describe an autumn lake, a warmly lit inn and mountains.

Art styles

Painterly brushwork

Visible brushwork, color masses and varied edges build the image. Portraits and layered scenes have distinct production needs, beyond one generic oil-painting label.

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Character: readable color masses and brush direction; Scene: separate depth layers; UI: quiet fields and concise icons
Move brushwork coherently with assets and check character/background contacts first.
Do marks support form and routes, and does the character survive a dense background when reduced?

Reference gamesDisco Elysium · The Master's Pupil

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Indigo and vermilion woodblock shapes depict a mountain village, river and traveler.

Art styles

Ukiyo-e

Flat color areas and clean printed edges make the space feel like a sheet that has been laid open. Front and back come from overlap, not from strong perspective.

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Few inks, with a clean edge on every shape
Waves, clouds, and wind may repeat, while the character stays quiet
Space can be scattered; order comes from which shape covers another
Seals and frames easily compete with buttons, so use them rarely

Reference gamesGetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon · Okami HD

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Art styles

Graphite and hatching

Hatching density, pencil pressure and erased highlights describe volume. A spatial scene still reads as marks on paper.

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Hatching follows form
Density separates values without a gray overlay
Leave clean paper around key contours

Reference gamesMundaun · Neverending Nightmares

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Art styles

Ballpoint drawing

Fine single-color marks preserve repeated strokes and cross-lines on paper. Blue or black ink follows one consistent drawing system.

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Keep a related line weight
Model with cross-lines and spacing
Separate focal contours from paper

Reference gamesInked: A Tale of Love · Ballpoint Universe - Infinite

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Art styles

Crayon drawing

Color behaves like grainy crayon on paper, leaving gaps along edges and fills. Simple shapes still need clear feedback.

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Scale marks with objects
Keep stable paper gaps in fills
Make interaction marks deliberate

Reference gamesCrayon Physics Deluxe · Yoshi's New Island

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Art styles

Manuscript illustration

People, buildings, text and ornament belong to a shared page. Flat pictorial space and page structure work together.

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Use contours and flat color fields
Ornament leaves room for reading
Keep functional text legible

Reference gamesPentiment · Inkulinati

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Art styles

Classical painting collage

Painting fragments form new scenes through consistent scale, light and narrative relationships. Cutting and recombining are visible design choices.

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Align figure and building scale
Balance values across fragments
Keep contacts and occlusion understandable

Reference gamesFour Last Things · The Procession to Calvary

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Art styles

Decorative storybook art

Plants, roofs and characters share decorative shapes and motifs. Ordered repetition creates richness while targets retain breathing room.

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Share shape rhythms across plants and buildings
Reserve patterns for secondary regions
Highlight interactables with value and outline

Reference gamesWytchwood · The Wild at Heart

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Art styles

Bold comic illustration

Strong contours, expressive poses and dramatic color masses shape characters. Comic identity can come from form and composition without halftone everywhere.

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Prioritize major contours
Design shadows as clear shapes
Share angular language across actors, props and frames

Reference gamesHades · The Wolf Among Us

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Art styles

Heavy ink and shadow

Large dark shapes and assertive ink lines model forms. Selective light is reserved for faces, props and important feedback.

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Design dark/light area ratios first
Give contours a weight hierarchy
Reserve bright accents for limited information

Reference gamesDarkest Dungeon® · Don't Starve

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Art styles

Hand-drawn animated 2D

Consistent character shapes, continuous poses and restrained shadows create drawn-animation readability while scenery supports the action.

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Preserve proportions and contour rules in motion
Limit shadow bands
Arrange background detail around actor focus

Reference gamesSpiritfarer®: Farewell Edition · Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe

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Art styles

Ink-wash-inspired art

Brush energy, ink density and open space describe forms. Ink-wash treatment is not a label for every East Asian setting and can coexist with 3D space.

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Give major contours brush direction
Use ink density for depth
Reserve open space for routes and targets

Reference gamesOkami HD · Rain Blood Chronicles: Mirage

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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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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.