Why is every indie game made with Pixel Art?

The indie dev love for pixel art grows by the year – in this video essay I look at why the style has made such a comeback, the technical shortcuts and challenges it poses, and at the unique ways that developers have evolved the form.

I’ll look at games for the Switch, Ps4, Xbox One and PC all the way back to the NES and SNES.

Let me know what your favourite recent pixel art games have been in the comments below!

Slip – Geographer
Sundays – R.LUM.R
Lake George – William Rosati
Lullaby – Yung Logos
Mad Science (Sting) – MK2
Marlboro lLite – Spazz Cardigan

Games featured in this video;

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Switch – Nintendo
Katana Zero – Askiisoft / Devolver Digital
Celeste – Matt Makes Games
Game Dev Story _ Kairosoft
Super Mario Galaxy – Nintendo
Hyper Light Drifter – Heart Machine
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – Nintendo
Stardew Valley – Eric Barone / Sickhead Games
Axiom Verge – Thomas Happ
Papers Please – Lucas Pope
Skyrim – Bathesda
Conan Exiles – Funcom
Assassins Creed Liberation
Mass Effect Andromeda – EA / Bioware
Street Fighter 2 – Capcom
Wargroove – Chucklefish
Dead Cells – Motion Twin
Fez – Phil Fish
Super Mario Odyssey – Nintendo
Octopath Traveller – Sqaure Enix
Pokemon Red – Nintendo
Dragon Warrior Monsters – Square Enix
Survival Kids – Konami
Unchartered 4 – Naughty Dog
Faster than Light – Subset Games
Super Castlevania IV – Konami
Final Fantasy III – Square Enix
Mega Man X – Capcom
FTL: Faster Than Light – Subset Games

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