Summary

• Pixel art games evoke nostalgia for eras we may not have experienced, yet remain timeless and emotionally engaging.
• From cute and lighthearted to dark and impactful, pixel art offers freedom for developers to tell diverse stories.
• Modern PC hardware can handle demanding graphics, but sometimes chasing retro nostalgia with pixel art games is just what you need.

Nostalgia can take a lot of different forms for different people. Regardless, there’s something about pixel art games that can make even people who grew up with GameCubes or Xbox 360s feel nostalgic for a time in gaming they may have never really experienced. Pixel art is beautiful in its simplicity. It’s so much more about feel than looks. Whatever specs your PC has (unless it's very, very old) it can run these games. Besides, the library is expansive enough that your options are almost limitless.

Pixel art has quickly become the way to make a game timeless, yet they manage to never feel dated. These games can be cute, funny and heartfelt, or grim, depressing and harsh. Sometimes, they can be all at once. Pixel art offers freedom for whatever story the developer wants to tell. Yo𒐪u don&rsqu💛o;t always need high-fidelity textures to pull at heartstrings. You just need the right words.

Updated on July 30, 2024, by Jack Pierik: Modern PC hardware can handle titles with some seriously demanding graphics, but just because you can run Cyberpunk 2077 at high settings with ray tracing doesn’t mean you always want or have to. Sometimes, you just want to chase retro nostalgia, or switch things up.

Alternatively, you might be more of a budget gamer, and thus have to work within your means. Whatever your reason for chasing Pixel Art games on PC, it’s valid, and to help you out with this endeavor, we’re giving you three more titles to check out. Game on.

18 ❀ Dead Cells

If you’re a fan of rogue🍌lites, platforming, and metroidvania-style gameplay, Dead Cells is a must-play. Sure, you’re going to die over and over, but that’s pretty much the point. Plus, you’ll be unlocking weapons, gear, cosmetics, and perks along the way to get stronger.

The combat feels great, especially on a controller, and the graphics have a superb style that ties♎ everything together. If you end up loving the game, there’s plenty of downloadable content you can buy to keep you o🌳ccupied and entertained.

17 ꦦ Tooth And Tail

In this wonderfully pixelated RTS, food is king, and you’ll be going head-to-head against AI or other players in PVP forꦜ this precious resource. Since food is finite, though, you can’t fight forever; develop ⛦a strategy that works for you and keep taking land.

Build up your base quickly, and se🐠nd out Boars, Skunks, Owls, and other fuzzy but lethal units that will reveal enemy p🍸ositions, zone them from specific areas, or obliterate them when they make a mistake. If you like bite-sized, fast-paced games, give Tooth And Tail a try.

16 �ﷺ� Moonlighter

In one moment, you’ll be utilizing RPG and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Roguelite mechanics to fight enemies, dodge roll thei꧟r attacks, and take down challenging bosses, and in another, you’ll be managing your shop and setting prices that strike a balance between filling your p๊ockets and keeping customers happy.

In Moonlighter, your store&rs𝓀quo;s shelves aren’t going to stock themselves, so you’ll have to get good at clearing dungeons and stuffing your pack full of loot and crafting materials. As you play, you’ll get better weapons, gear, and companions, and if you get to the end, the game offers New Game Plus for 💮seasoned veterans.

15 ꦚ Potion Permit

A soft color palette and a (mostly) light-hearted adventure awಞait you in Moonbury. Potion Permit, a game that rivals Stardew Valley in its good vibes quotient, puts you in the shoes of the Chemis🀅t, a potion-brewing medic from the far-flung and much-maligned capital city. Moonbury doesn’t take kindly to you at first, but that’s alright - you have plenty of time to win folks over.

While Potion Permit has a fair bit of combat, a necessity to forage in the wilds that border Moonbury, it’s also attuned to nature. Y🐻ou’re a chemist because you understand how to mix ingredients together. With a soft, natural color palette (except, perhaps, your hair color), Potion Permit brings to mind soft afternoon light and cozying up with a good book.

14 ♉ Katana Zero💖

It is time for a bit of the old ultra-violence. Katana Zero is bloody and surreal, painting in neon strokes and synth beats, with the backdrop 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:of a fully realized world. You are an assassin, unsure of your past or your future, the mystery unravelling before you. Still, one thing is certain: your boss needs your skills. You must leave no survivors and be meticul🐎ous in your planning. If you falter, you die.

More than anything else, Katana Zero is fast. You see Zero, your character, zip across the screen, vibrant neon trailing his every move as he paints the walls with blood. Something so stylized can only be done with pixel art, playing to our nostalgia, even for eras we may have never experienﷺced.

13 Backbone

You can find Howard Lotor, a raccoon Private Investig🐟ator, in the shadowed streets of a dystopian, futuristic Vancouver. The world is detailed and vibrant; you can practically smell the cheap cigarettes and bourbon. Luckily, Backbone gives you a lot of reasons to take in its impeccable aesthetic.

Where Backbone falters, it more than makes up for it in sheer style. We are so used to pixel art having a rigid quality, but Bac♔kbone seems to breathe with us. Its art deco architecture and shimmering neon lights build the kind of noir landscape you can lose yourself in.

12 Omori

The world can be black and white, sometimes. At least, it can be to young shut-in, Sunny. In Omori, you guide Sunny, his alter-ego, the titular Omori, and a party of ⛎friends through a col♈orful dreamscape. However, everything is not as it seems - this dream world is nothing more than a pastel bandage over the greyscale nothingness that lives inside Sunny’s head.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Heavily inspired by Earthbound, Omori is a game that delves into loss, depression and guilt. Omori&rsqu♍o;s style ricochets between digital pixels and sketchy hand-drawn art. It uses both to full effect, somehow being both🍬 disarming and discordant.

11 💮 Vampire Survivors 🤡

Sadly, there are no actual vampires in Vampire Survivors. On the bright side, there are countless monsters to fight through, so not all is lost. Vampire Survivors is far from the most aesthetically p🍌leasing pixel-art game, but who can argue how satisfying it is 𝔍to play - and, more importantly, triumph over?

In Vampire Survivors, you are given a selectio💃n of characters with different abilities and placed in an arena with unending waves of aggressive creatures. Luckily, your chosen hunter attacks automatically - you just have to guide them. Compared to many pixel art games that prioritize long-form storytelling, Vampire Survivors thrives on its simple get-in and get-out playstyle.

10 ♊ Always Sometimes Monsters

Always Sometimes Monsters is an RPG that opens with a flashback to a b🦹irthday party, where you choose your protagonist and their significant other. Like many RPGs, Always Sometimes Monsters 𝕴focuses heavily on player choice and the consequences.

The🌟re is no supernatural angle to this game; it is just a high-drama personal tale where you will become highly aware of how your actions affect those around you. Whether you like it or not, sometimes you’re someone’s monster, and there’s no way to take that back.

9 Proteus

Sometimes, you just want a game that expects nothing of you. Proteus has no plot, no goals, and▨ you don’t even really interact with anything. You just walk on a procedurally generated island and find the beauty in that isolated existence, in the nature that surrounds you—every step punctuated by dynamic music that changes depending on your surroundings.

No two walks in Proteus are the same; your solꩲe motivation is the desire to keep going, take in the world, and find peace. It is both endless and limited, familiar yet new. So if you are looking for a moment of tranquility after a difficult day, Proteus is herꦬe for you.