Hand-Drawn

2017 · Run and Gun · PC / Steam

Cuphead is a game built on two pillars, and both are exceptional. The hand-drawn 1930s animation style remains unlike anything else in gaming, and the boss fights deliver the kind of challenge that makes victory feel earned rather than given. Local co-op adds a layer of chaos that changes every encounter. The run-and-gun platforming levels don't reach the same heights as the boss battles, and the difficulty will push some players past their breaking point. But for anyone who wants a game that demands everything you've got and rewards you with some of the most creative, gorgeous encounters ever designed, Cuphead delivers in a way very few games can.

2023 · Visual Novel / Horror · PC / Steam

Slay the Princess hands you a knife, a cabin in the woods, and one instruction from a narrator who insists the princess inside will end the world unless you kill her, and everything after that first choice is the game interrogating why you believed him, or why you didn't. Across looping timelines, the princess transforms into whatever your last encounter made of her, hand-drawn art shifting from storybook to nightmare, two extraordinary voice performances carrying the entire cast. It's talky by design, loop fatigue sets in for some, and the philosophy runs heady. As an argument for what visual novels can do, almost nothing touches it.

2014 · Tomm Moore · 93 min · Animated Fantasy

A quietly devastating animated film about grief, family, and Irish mythology that proves you don't need spectacle to create something profoundly moving.

2017 · Puzzle

Gorogoa is a breathtaking visual puzzle game where rearranging and layering hand-drawn panels reveals hidden connections, delivering a short but profoundly memorable experience unlike anything else on mobile.

2017 · Puzzle · PC / Steam

Gorogoa is a puzzle game played by rearranging four hand-drawn panels on a grid, zooming into illustrations until they become new scenes, sliding one image over another until their elements combine, and the mechanic remains unlike anything else on Steam. Jason Roberts spent the better part of a decade drawing it himself, and the craftsmanship shows in every impossible transition. It runs ninety minutes to two hours, tells its wordless story of faith and obsession through imagery many players finish without decoding, and occasionally reduces its elegance to trial-and-error shuffling. As a bound object of pure invention, it has few equals at any length.

2012 · Point-and-Click Adventure / Puzzle

Machinarium is a hand-drawn point-and-click adventure about a little robot reclaiming his home, featuring some of the most beautiful art direction in gaming and puzzles that reward patience and observation over brute force.

2013 · Fighting · PC / Steam

Skullgirls 2nd Encore packs a fighting game education into a gorgeous hand-drawn package, with flexible team mechanics and thoughtful system design that prove you don't need a massive roster to build one of the deepest fighters in the genre.

2009 · Takeshi Koike · 102 min · Action

Redline is an absurdly beautiful hand-drawn racing film that prioritizes pure visual spectacle and adrenaline over narrative depth, and it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do.

2024 · Action Platformer · PC / Steam

Nine Sols is a beautifully hand-drawn action platformer that builds its entire combat system around parrying and talisman detonation, creating fights that feel like violent puzzles. The boss encounters are exceptional, the art direction is stunning, and the Chinese mythology-inspired setting gives it a cultural identity that stands apart from the crowd. Brutal difficulty and some pacing issues in the story keep it from universal appeal, but players who click with its deflection-focused combat will find one of the most satisfying action games in recent years.

2021 · Folk Horror · PC / Steam

Mundaun is a hauntingly original folk horror experience set in the Swiss Alps, with hand-penciled visuals that create an atmosphere unlike anything else in gaming, though its limited combat and occasional pacing issues hold it back from greatness.

2024 · Metroidvania / Platformer · PC / Steam

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a visually gorgeous metroidvania steeped in Japanese folklore that nails its platforming and art direction while falling short on combat depth and map design compared to genre heavyweights.