10 Best Pixel Art Titles on Yandex Games

Pixel art is an art style unlike any other: resembling embroidery techniques, the pixel art we know today owes its very existence to the technological limitations of early computers and video game consoles. The old displays could only display so many pixels, and their color range was beyond restrictive by today’s standards. When you think about it, what game artists were able to accomplish back then is nothing short of impressive.

We’ve come a long way since then, and the limitations of the past have been completely surpassed. Still, pixel art is more popular than ever, and many modern games use this style. Although pixel art may seem simplistic, it’s far from that in practice. With a limited toolset, especially when the whole game must abide by a specific pixel count per sprite to properly stick to one style, drawing pixel art is incredibly taxing and requires a very specific set of skills from the artist.

While yes, anyone can hop into Paint and sketch their own sprite, it takes a lot more work than you might expect to come up with something that’s both beautiful and easily identifiable. Some of the most recognizable gaming characters, such as the alien from 1978 Space Invaders, consist of just a few dozens of pixels yet scream personality.

Yandex Games has hundreds of pixel art games, and we are proud to share some of them on our blog. Sit back and take in the beauty of just a few of our platform’s prettiest pixel art games!

Dinosaur Run by MarketJS

A timeless classic with semi-color pixel art graphics. Jump over obstacles and run all the way up to the top of the leaderboards!

Left = Lose by Indie_RU

An old-timey platformer with a challenging spin: you can only go right. Try your hand at beating this one without breaking a sweat!

Pixel Zombies by farisbugra

This arcade game illustrates how certain assets (e.g., the ground patterns) can be reused to save development time yet lose none of the style!

Viking: Dash! by Mugle Studio

Dash your way through an exciting pixelated world filled to the brim with enemies, traps, and treasures!

Sector 783 by Refold

A gorgeous Metroidvania platformer with fluid controls and masterfully crafted levels that never fails to invoke that old-school nostalgia.

Leave Me Alone by MarketJS

A simple gameplay concept works in tandem with the pixel art style to create the ultimate time killer. Punch zombies and test your resolve in this cute casual game!

Knight Clash by Marat

Get in the shoes of an adventurous knight and slay some monsters in this retro platformer with immense replayability.

Basketball Legend by MarketJS

Ever wondered what it takes to become a pro athlete? Score some epic three-pointers in Basketball Legend, a fun little sports game with wonderful pixel art.

Network 95 by Poly Games

Who said working as a system admin is boring? This delightful little puzzle game about connecting computers to a server couldn’t look any more succinct yet offers hours of brain-racking gameplay.

Pixel Art by Top Free Games

Color your stress and anxiety away with Pixel Art, a relaxing coloring game. It’s a great way to learn the basic principles behind pixel gradients and other techniques that might come in useful when working on assets for your own game!

Pixel art is an excellent choice for any HTML5 game: it can look great and be just as flexible as any other art style. Dungeon crawlers, hardcore platformers, RPGs, arcade shooters, casual games — every genre can look and play great in pixels! As we’ve demonstrated, Yandex Games hosts a fair share of pixel art games, and we are always delighted to see new releases embrace this gorgeous style.

But at the end of the day, the art style works only as well as you make it work. If you are looking for even more inspiration, check out our previous post with a selection of beautiful games in every style under the sun. Once you’ve gathered some ideas and are ready to show your game to the world, publish it on our platform: it’s free, straightforward, and includes free promotion. As long as you stick to our Developer’s Guide, you’ll have your first game published in no time!