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Looking to make pixel art assets for a game that you’re developing? There are a lot of constraints within indie game development, one being game art assets. You can hire outside help to see your game’s vision perfectly (sometimes imperfectly) executed, but it will hurt your pockets. You can buy cheaper game assets on marketplaces that all seem a bit incomplete and not tailored to your game design. Or you can put in the painstaking time to level up your art skills.
I felt these constraints first hand creating the pixel art assets for Wild Paws. Wild Paws was my submission to itch.io’s Easter Game Jam 2024 with Enzed (a talented game designer and programmer). Check out my article on my journey managing my time for a game jam with How I Won a Game Jam & How You Can Win a Game Jam Too.
None of these options are appealing. But should you decide to make your game’s art assets, pixel art is an accessible and easy to start medium. You also don’t need to be a good artist in order to make pixel art; you just need to follow pixel art guidelines so the art is readable to the players. The following resources are what I used to complete the finished tileset from Wild Paws and what I continue to use for ongoing projects.
Before you start creating your game’s pixel art assets…
You need to determine the view for your game! If you’re not familiar with views in pixel art, check out examples in my article Pixel Art Terms & Definitions: A Beginner Pixel Artist’s Glossary.
There are advantages and disadvantages for each view. Straight side views and top views are easy to create and require the least amount of planning. However, because only one face of each object is shown in side view or top down view, they are less readable to players. Side scrollers and many 2D platformers are side view (think Mario-kart). Games that are strict top down view are hard to find, but most game maps are strictly top down.
How game artists create even more readable art is by adding another plane to view. In 3/4 view (which can either be top down or side), an additional plane is shown. So, if a house is drawn in 3/4 side view, the side and the front of the house will be shown. If a 3/4 top down house is drawn, its roof and front will be shown. When people refer to top down view in 2D game art, they are likely referring to 3/4 top down since birds eye is so rare. One view that is very readable is isometric. But because of the difficulty to make isometric games compared to the other views, there are less isometric games.
You need to decide on your game’s view before making your pixel art assets, and you also might consider limitations of the engine you’re using. One game engine I’m thinking of in particular is GB Studio. I make a case for GB Studio being THE beginner’s game engine in my article GB Studio: The Best No Code Game Engine For Beginners. Either way, there might be limitations of your game engine’s art capabilities, so tinker with the game engine before making assets.
However, likely you already know which view you would like to use for your game and the game engine. With that decided, the resources are below!
For Creating Side View Pixel Art Tilesets
For pixel art for side view games, the video I always watch as a refresher is MortMort’s “How to Make a Simple Tileset (Pixel Art Tutorial for Beginners).” As you look up Tileset tutorials, many will be dependent on the software that you use. For example, many tutorials might be titled something along the lines of “How to Make Tilesets in Aseprite” or another program. MortMort uses photoshop in this tutorial, which is not a pixel art app and doesn’t have as many pixel art specific features. So, regardless of your software, you can follow along. One pixel app that is accessible for iPad users is Procreate. I talk about Procreate in a few of my articles including How to Use Procreate for Pixel Art: A Quick Guide and also how to export your pixel art in How To Export Pixel Art From Procreate.
Now if you do have Aseprite as your pixel art software of choice, you can follow along most tileset tutorials. I personally use MortMort’s tileset workflow, which can be found in his video “My Tileset Workflow (Pixel Art & Gamedev Tutorial).” However, I have been wanting to change my workflow to Adam C Younis’s tileset workflow, which takes advantage of all the Aseprite specific tileset features. His workflow video is “Revisiting my tileset workflow for Aseprite’s new 1.3 release.”
For Creating Side View Pixel Sprites
To make sprites for side view pixel art games is a bit easier than 3/4 top down, because there is less mobility. The most your character can do is walk side to side, jump, duck, and any attacks you decide to add. But before we talk about their animations, we want to get their design done.
Brandon James Greer talks about his process for character design and coherency in “How do you start Pixel Art?”…Here’s what I did!” What I appreciate about this video is the coherency of all the characters he designs in it. Stylistic choices for coherency need to be planned ahead of time before you jump in creating sprites.
Adam C Younis also walks through his sprite design process in a helpful video. I appreciate how he breaks down what makes a pixel art sprite readable, which is exactly what we are going for in your first pixel art game assets. So long as it is readable, it is playable. You can find Adam C Younis’s process in his video “Pixel Art Class – Character Sprite Build.”
A good animation tutorial for beginners is KiwiBee’s video “Easy PIXEL ART Walk Cycle for Beginners.” This video will get your static sprite moving in no time! A side view tutorial for how to go about animating other actions can be found in Brandon James Greer’s video “Small Sprite Animations | Pixel Art Timelapse.”
You’ll notice I’m mentioning the same pixel artists over and over again, and that is because they are really good pixel artists and even better teachers. I talk about these pixel artists in more depth in my article Pixel Art YouTubers for Beginners to Subscribe To.
For Creating Top Down Pixel Art Tilesets
Resources for top down pixel art tilesets are more available. Most default pixel art tileset tutorials on youtube seem to be 3/4 top down. But here are my picks to start with as a beginner.
Saltoons top down tileset tutorial, titled “Pixel Art Tileset Tutorial (Top Down Pixel Art)” is great for beginners. He touches on a bunch of different aspects like readability, color and design choices, and tileset coherency in this bite sized tutorial. Additionally the art he creates in this video is a great example of how simple pixel art can be aesthetically pleasing.
Another bite sized tutorial is from Brandon James Greer in his video “Top-Down Pixel Art Practice! (Timelapse + Style Discussion).” This video discusses how to achieve the top down style through logical guidelines, with a timelapse playing in the background! Having a timelapse of someone’s process can make new pixel art skills click. And Brandon James Greer’s specific style is accessible for new pixel artists.
For an in depth analysis on the top down pixel art style, I would recommend Adam C Younis’s video “Pixel Art Class – Top Down Style Analysis & Tutorial.” While it is not a game asset specific tutorial, it can take your beginner pixel art to intermediate quickly. He breaks down the choices you need to make as a pixel artist and draws a demonstration in real time.
For Creating Top Down Pixel Art Sprites
MortMort’s video “CHARACTER & ANIMATION Top down RPG (Pixel Art Tutorial)” is all that you need to start making top down pixel sprites. He breaks down pixel art walk cycles extremely well. With this tutorial, you’ll get the logic you need to make other basic sprites from the top down perspective.
Are you are interested in making a retro, Game Boy Pokemon style game? If so, Brandon James Greer’s video “Sprite Analysis | Pokémon: Top-Down RPG Pixel Art” can help you achieve the style. It is extremely informational (and nostalgic for those of us who have been around since the Game Boy)! At the moment, I am creating a game on GB studio and am constantly rewatching segments of this video.
If you are struggling to find more resources for top down character sprites, I would say many low resolution games use top down and side view character sprites interchangeably. This is due to the size of smaller sprites. While seeing a top down house in a side scroller would look off, sprites are so much smaller than their environments. This means you can usually get away with using a top down sprite in a side scroller and vice versa. I would say the resources I recommend for side view sprites are also helpful for top down sprites.
If you really want to make an isometric game…
Two resources I found are from Adam C Younis where he shows his process for making isometric game assets. He has good isometric tutorials named “Pixel Art Class – Isometric Tile Basics” and “Pixel Art Class – Isometric Character Basics.” Isometric views are not for the faint of heart, but my goodness will your players be able to tell what items are what in your game!
For Creating Random Assets in your Game
Let’s say you are really struggling to make a unique sprite, like a llama. Well, Pixel Pete has got you covered! In his series Pixel Art 101 with over 68 videos, he goes over a lot of basic concepts in pixel art and hyper specific tutorials as well. I get the most value from these videos when I am really stuck trying to draw something in a specific perspective.
Intermediate Animation Help
Now the sprite videos that I have shared are all introductory and do not focus deeply on animation. When it comes to static art, pixel art just needs to be readable to be good, and you do not initially need foundational art skills. But that is not true for pixel art animation. For sprites to be well-animated, you need a foundational understanding of animation. The following resources are the next best thing for a pixel artist.
A pixel art animation tutorial that can level up your sprites are Overload’s “The secrets to good Pixel Art animation! (Animation tutorial).” Let me just say, this video in and of itself is a work of art. The level of detail in this video and the smoothness of all of the animation is inspiring. Each time I watch it, I want to level up my pixel art animation to catch up.
Penusbmic’s tutorial using Aseprite is also really helpful for combat animations. Combat is a huge part of the gameplay loop if your game has it. And getting animations down perfectly is important to keep players engaged. In his video “INSANELY Smooth pixel ATTACK Animation Tutorial” you learn animation from the combat pixel art expert himself.
Non Video Resources
Now I have recommended a lot of youtube videos, and frankly that’s because I am a youtube learner. However despite liking to learn through video content, I have a non-video resources I often visit. The top one is Slynyrd’s pixel art blog. He has been running his blog for years and posts regularly. My favorite thing about frequently visiting his blog is learning something I would not have thought to want to learn.
If all else fails…
You have a lot of learning to do!!! Or you don’t… Creating pixel art assets is going to take a lot of work on your part. And it is not something you can take shortcuts on. Not without your game’s player carrying the cost. So, if this article was demotivating in any way, I know you can still do it. You have all the resources at your fingertips. Literally! But not WANTING to do it is a totally different thing. You might need to accept that you don’t want to make your game’s pixel art, and I talk about your options in my upcoming article article Where to Find 2D, Free Pixel Game Assets For Your Indie Game. In this article I recommend the Itch.io marketplace and more!
