2D game art style reference
Explore the different art styles available to 2D games.
Read time 1 minuteLast updated 22 days ago
Decide what art style you want your game to have. The following table describes the main types of 2D art style:
Art style / technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Minimalist | Flat colors, clean lines and high readability, for example a mobile puzzle game. |
| Pixel art | Pixelated graphics, for example a retro gaming art style. |
| Illustrative | A cartoon, stylized or realistic art style. |
| Pre-rendered 3D | Use this technique to create 2D art with 3D tools. You create art that is rendered as Sprites or Sprite sequences. You can use this technique when you need multiple angles of an asset, for example for the 8- or 4-direction Sprite characters used in retro art. |
Most sections of this guide are relevant for games with any art style. However, this guide does not cover working with pre-rendered 3D assets; to learn more about this see 2D or 3D projects: 2D gameplay with 3D graphics.
Examples
Mini Metro, a 2D game made with Unity with a minimalist art style
See the Mini Metro site.
Phased, a 2D game made with Unity with a pixel art style
See the Phased Unity case study.
Flipping Death, a 2D game made with Unity with an illustrative art style
See the Flipping Death Unity case study.
Rise of Kingdoms, a game made with Unity with the pre-rendered 3D technique
See the Rise of Kingdoms site.