This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through links. I will only recommend products that I have personally used or thoroughly reviewed! Learn more on my Privacy Policy page.
Retro art, modern frights, and Aseprite with other techniques and tools
Key Takeaways
- Tool Selection: Choose between tools like Piskel for beginners or GIMP for advanced features, based on your skill level and project needs.
- Pixel Art Fundamentals: Understanding canvas size, pixel density, and color limitations is crucial for creating effective pixel art for horror games.
- Character and Scene Design: Effective horror design involves using dark colors, detailed decay, and dynamic lighting to create an eerie atmosphere.
- Exporting Artwork: Use programs like Piskel to export your creations in formats suitable for game development, ensuring sprites are properly aligned for smooth implementation.
Introduction

The charm of pixel art in video games is undeniable, especially within the horror genre with tools like Aseprite. From Carrion, and Signalis to soon to come Holstin, simplicity in graphics can ironically enhance the atmosphere of terror.
This general guide will introduce creating pixel art for horror games, and if wan to know the history of pixel art, check out the Resolute History of Pixel Art Horror.
Let’s now take a walk through the “Pixel Art: Aseprite and Techniques” and the basic tools and techniques needed to start crafting your own eerie visuals.
Choosing the Right Tools

Before diving into the pixel art design world of horror, selecting the appropriate software is crucial. For beginners, Piskel offers an open-source, user-friendly platform to create animated sprites and pixel art. Meanwhile, GIMP, a free, robust alternative to Photoshop, offers a wide range of features.
So, choosing your tool ahead of time will help save time in your game development project and pixel art design.
Aseprite: Aseprite is a popular choice among pixel artists for its comprehensive set of tools tailored specifically for pixel art creation and animation.
As a freeware, Aseprite offers advanced features like onion skinning, which is useful for animations, an array of color palettes, and pixel-perfect stroke tools that make it ideal for horror game designs
Piskel: Ideal for beginners, this tool is a free, user-friendly platform that allows you to create animations and static images directly in their web browsers. It also supports offline versions for all major operating systems.
Its interface is intuitive, featuring real-time previews, adjustable frame rates, and multiple export options, including GIFs and sprite sheets (PiskelApp).

GIMP: For those looking for more sophisticated tools without incurring costs, GIMP provides a powerful set of free features. It is especially useful for more detailed sprite work and animations due to its feature set that rival paid software.
As a user of GIMP, I can attest that it allows for meticulous pixel control, custom brushes, and easy layer management, which are essential for creating horror visuals.
GraphicsGale: Another excellent option, particularly for those who lean towards animation, is GraphicsGale, a freeware. It’s known for its ease in animating sprites and managing color palettes which is crucial when depicting eerie scenes. As a heads up, the website to download it is a bit ad heavy.
It also provides tools that helps in achieving precise editing and rendering (Video Game Design and Development).
Affinity Designer: A versatile tool for both vector and raster design, Affinity Designer is useful for detailed graphics, including pixel art. It features a robust grid system but lacks specialized pixel art features like frame-by-frame animation, and is not built-in for Linux.
There is GitHub that might help with that, though. If you prefer alternative, Aseprite is good.
Each of these tools offers unique advantages, so the choice depends on your specific needs and level of experience. Beginners might prefer Piskel for its simplicity, while more advanced users might opt for GIMP or GraphicsGale for their features.
Understanding Pixel Art Basics

Pixel art thrives on limitation, often using small canvases to evoke the nostalgia of 8-bit and 16-bit game eras. The canvas size you can use in Aseprite directly influences the resolution of your art, ensuring that each pixel contributes to the overall image (GameMaker).
Here’s a deeper dive into those basics to help you create effective and evocative pixel art design for horror games.
Canvas Size and Resolution: The size of the canvas directly affects the resolution of your pixel art. In the past, classic games often used small canvases due to hardware limitations, which became a stylistic choice for pixel art.
Choosing a canvas size like 16×16 or 32×32 pixels for characters ensures each pixel is vital to the aesthetic and readability of the sprite and can be done in Aseprite.
Pixel Density and Detail: When creating pixel art, the density of the pixels—how many pixels make up a single sprite—will affect the level of detail you can include.
Smaller sprites in Aseprite, like those 16×16 pixels, require more generalization of features, while larger sprites (32×32 or more) allow for more detailed and expressive characters. This is crucial in horror games, where the mood can hinge on the subtleties (GameMaker).
Palette Limitations: Early video game systems had limited color palettes. For example, the NES could display 25 colors, while the SNES could display 256.
By limiting your palette, you not only adhere to traditional pixel art aesthetics but also enhance the cohesiveness of your visual design. In horror games, using a restricted color palette can help set a darker, more foreboding mood.
Pixel Placement: Every pixel in pixel art must be placed with intention. This method, often referred to as “pixel pushing,” involves meticulous control over where each pixel is placed to define edges, shapes, and shading.
This precision allows pixel artists to create highly expressive and detailed images from very few pixels.
Shading and Dithering: Shading in pixel art is often achieved through techniques like “dithering,” where different colored pixels are used to create the illusion of depth or more color.
This technique is useful in horror pixel art to add shadows too, making scenes and characters appear more dynamic and chilling.
By mastering these, you’ll be well-equipped to start creating your horror-themed pixel art design.
Designing Horror Characters and Scenes

Character Design: When designing horror-themed pixel art, the goal is to evoke emotion. A good tutorial on creating pixel art monsters, for example, suggests starting with an ominous outline before adding dark, contrasting colors that set a fearful tone for your characters (YouTube).
Evoking this tone of fear or discomfort is key to horror character design and easily done in Aseprite. Start by defining what kind of horror your game will explore—psychological, gore, supernatural, or survival.
For instance, a monster inspired by psychological horror might have exaggerated facial expressions. So, use stark contrasts in color and detail to highlight these features.
The Mega Voxels tutorials further elaborate on this by introducing methods to add depth and shadow to make your artwork pop, using a simple ghost as an example.
By manipulating shadows and highlights, you can create a sense of three-dimensionality even within the constraints of pixel art (Mega Voxels).
Scene Composition: The scenes in horror games play a crucial role in setting the tone as well. Dark, limited palettes with unexpected splashes of color can evoke a sense of dread and foreboding.
Consider using pixel art techniques like “parallax scrolling” to create depth, making the player feel as though they’re delving deeper into a sinister world (GameMaker).
Horror Pixel Art Techniques

Horror pixel art design often uses limited color palettes to enhance the eerie atmosphere. Undertale uses monochromatic colors to make subtle details more disturbing. So, when selecting colors, focus on saturation and contrast to maintain an aesthetic that supports the game’s mood.
Color and Mood: Use desaturated colors with contrasts to invoke unease. Dark palettes with splashes of red or sudden white can heighten tension, while monochromatic schemes highlight minimal details, enhancing creepiness (Scary Studies).
Silhouettes and Shadows: Effective use of silhouettes can create an aura of mystery in Aseprite. Characters and objects against dim backgrounds can be menacing. Pixel art’s limited detail allows players’ imaginations to fill in the gaps, often imagining scarier versions than shown (GameMaker).
Texture and Noise: Adding noise or grain to scenes can give an aged or eerie vibe, reminiscent of old films or analog horror. This can be achieved by overlaying a light noise texture or manually adding random pixels to break up smooth areas, enhancing the unsettling atmosphere.
Dynamic Lighting Effects: Simple lighting effects, such as flickering lights or glowing eyes, can transform a scene’s mood. Altering pixel brightness and color to simulate light sources can make a significant impact even within the pixel art style (GameMaker).
Distortion and Transformation: Implement creative distortions like morphing faces or twisting landscapes to introduce surreal and grotesque elements. Animating these changes can create disturbing effects as familiar scenes become grotesquely unfamiliar (GameMaker).
Detail in Decay and Ruin: Represent decay and ruin by varying color and texture, using darker, muted tones to signify age and wear. In Aseprite, this adds a layer of atmosphere, suggesting neglect and evoking discomfort.
Exporting and Implementing Your Art

Once your art is ready, Piskel and Aseprite allows you to export your creations in various formats, including sprite sheets for game development or animated GIFs for online sharing. Below are some general steps when using Piksel.
- Export Formats: Most pixel art programs like Piskel allow for various export formats. Common options include sprite sheets (collections of individual sprites in a single image file) and animated GIFs. These formats can be easily imported into game engines (PiskelApp).
- Sprite Sheets: When exporting to sprite sheets, ensure that each sprite is aligned and spaced consistently to avoid rendering issues in the game engine. This is crucial for animations where each frame must be in exact alignment (PiskelApp).
- Implementation in Game Engines: Importing your pixel art into Unity or Unreal game engines involves setting up the artwork within the engine’s environment. This may include adjusting the scaling, resolution, and filters to maintain the pixel art’s aesthetic (PiskelApp).
- Testing and Iteration: Once implemented, test the art in the game to see how it looks and behaves in different scenarios. Adjustments are needed so that the art fits the game’s visual. Iteration is a normal part of game development, so be prepared to test results and get feedback (PiskelApp).
Closing Thoughts

Creating pixel art for horror games is about crafting a visual experience that complements the game’s atmosphere.
Whether you are a novice looking to experiment or an experienced artist honing your craft in Aseprite, the tools and techniques discussed here will help you bring your darkest visions to life. This ensures that your games not only look retro but feel chillingly immersive.
So, what elements make pixel art effective in horror games for you? How were your experiences with any of these tools or techniques in horror game design? Share your thoughts and comments below!

Nero lives in the United States, delving into indie horror to mainstream games. Armed with a psych degree and a passion for storytelling, he wrote stories and essays published online and in museum catalogs. Besides writing, he also likes sketching and tuning into rock music. Catch his latest posts or follow him across social media.