Pixel art
Posts about pixel art from the two of us making Mytheria, with real clips from the game.
Indie game development · 15 October 2026How we decide what to polish firstHow we choose Mytheria's polish work: rank every gap by what a player notices at play size, write down what success looks like, compare matched frames.
Game feel · 13 October 2026Loot drops that feel good to pick upHow Mytheria's loot drops work: a real arc and one bounce, a pale outline to stand out, a magnet that pulls them in, and text that adds up the haul.
Game feel · 12 October 2026How to make a rock break feel satisfyingHow Mytheria makes breaking a rock feel good, frame by frame: a dust puff, a shadow that shrinks away, a tidy rubble pile and text that never overlaps.
Game design · 11 October 2026How to tell a story without cutscenesHow Mytheria tells its story with no cutscenes: one-line rune tablets in the world, place names, keepers' memories and dawn lines, found in any order.
Game feel · 11 October 2026Damage numbers in games: why whole numbers read betterHow Mytheria draws floating damage numbers: whole numbers, one number that ticks up per target, colours by who's hurt, and lanes so hits never overlap.
Game art · 11 October 2026Sprites in a lit world: making pixel art stand on the groundHow Mytheria's flat pixel-art sprites cast real shadows in Godot: invisible shapes built from the art, a height that matches the camera, and soft contact.
Game UI design · 10 October 2026Pause menu design: six ways to build one, comparedSix ways to build a game pause menu, from a plain panel to a painted scene, what each costs, and why Mytheria uses one painted wooden plate over the world.
Game art · 9 October 2026Pixel art grass and paths that don't look tiledHow Mytheria draws top-down pixel art grass and paths without visible tiles: a repeating cluster tile, slow waves that pick the shade, and curved roads.
Game design · 9 October 2026Dungeon design: ten floors, small puzzles and a boss at the bottomHow we design Mytheria's temple dungeons: ten hand-made floors, three tiny puzzle rules, a rest stop halfway, rising danger and a boss at the bottom.
Game UI design · 8 October 2026Game UI readability: text sizes that work on every screenHow big should game UI text be? Valve's Steam Deck minimum, Mytheria's measured font sizes on every screen, and an interface size setting that reflows.
Game art · 8 October 2026Idle animation, frame by frame: what makes a character feel aliveHow Mytheria's pixel art idle animation works, frame by frame: a two-pose head bob held in whole pixels, a slow fidget, a blink, and nothing else moving.
Game design · 7 October 2026How to place trees and rocks so a map looks naturalHow Mytheria places its trees and rocks: drifts instead of random scatter, habitats with rules, clear roads and a world that gets richer away from home.
Game art · 7 October 2026One rig, five characters: modular pixel art animationHow Mytheria animates five pixel art characters with one rig: parts as data, shared clips, feet that plant on the ground and hands that hold any tool.
Game art · 6 October 2026Pixel art character size: why we made our characters smallerWhy Mytheria's pixel art characters got smaller: compact heads, no limbs, floating hands and tiny feet. A real before and after, with the sprite sizes.
Game UI design · 6 October 2026Game HUD design: a compass and a clock in oneHow the HUD in Mytheria puts map, time and day in one corner: a clock that fills around the compass, and a readout that shifts colour with the hour.
Game art · 5 October 2026How to make a pixel art forest feel aliveHow Mytheria's pixel art forest moves: one wind for the whole world, a different stiffness per plant, whole-pixel sway, grass that parts and wildlife.
Game art · 5 October 2026How to make fog look good in a pixel art gameHow we draw fog in Mytheria: in the world, never on the screen, with a clear pocket around the player and shelters that cut holes in it. Real footage.
Game art · 5 October 2026Pixel art color palette: how we fixed a washed-out forestHow we pick colours for Mytheria's pixel art: hue-shifted ramps, cool shade, warm earth and coloured outlines. Explore our real tree and rock palettes.
Game UI design · 3 October 2026Game inventory UI design: five versions and what each one taught usMytheria's inventory went through five designs, from a flat paper book to a live character on a stage. Step through each one and see what we changed.
Game art · 3 October 2026Pixel art lighting in Godot: real lights in the worldHow we light Mytheria's pixel art in Godot with real lights, local mist and time of day instead of screen filters. Drag the sun through a whole day.