2D Unit Art for Games: Styles and Production Process

A unit is not just an image. It is a visual promise to the player: who is before them, how dangerous they are, which faction they belong to, and whether they should be feared. All of this is processed in a fraction of a second. This is why 2D unit art is one of the most technically and artistically demanding tasks in all of game production.

It might seem simple: draw a soldier and you’re done. But when there are dozens of units on the screen at once, when the game is top-down, when the budget isn’t infinite, and you need eight different factions – everything becomes more complex. This is where the real work begins: not just “drawing a unit,” but building a system that scales without losing quality and doesn’t break the production pipeline across different types of 2D games. Understanding the variety of 2D game types is the first step in this process.

What Makes a Unit Readable - and Why It is More Important than Beauty

Before discussing styles and pipelines, we need to address the foundation. Professional 2D video game art for units follows one strict rule: the player must read the unit in 0.5 seconds. Not look at it – read it. They must understand its role, faction, and threat level.

Three tools ensure this:

Silhouette. It works even without color or textures. A tank is wide, low-slung, with massive shoulders. A long-range unit is elongated, with a characteristic weapon. Support units have neutral shapes, often with light or magical elements. If silhouettes are too similar, the player gets confused. This isn’t an issue of aesthetics; it’s an issue of gameplay.

Color. Factions are separated by color. Rarity is also color-coded (gray, green, blue, purple, gold – the classic system that works). A unit’s state (stunned, poisoned, buffed) is again shown through color. Therefore, the color system is designed in advance, not “on the fly.”

Detailing. The smaller the unit appears on the screen, the fewer details it needs. This isn’t laziness on the artist’s part; it’s a professional decision. On a mobile top-down screen, armor with 40 rivets turns into a gray smudge. Utilizing specific 2D art techniques allows a simple, clean silhouette with one accent element to work much better.

Unity documentation explicitly states that the choice of 2D art style directly determines the tools, technical constraints, and production approach to creating a game – and this decision must be made before production begins, not during the process.

2D Art Styles: What to Choose and Why

When defining the visual identity of a project, it’s essential to categorize the various types of 2D art available to developers. There are several established 2D art styles, each with its own production logic and technical requirements.

Stylized / Cartoon

The most common choice for mobile and midcore games. It features clear outlines, saturated colors, and minimal half-tones. It reads well on small screens and allows for simplified detailing.

The main advantage is speed. A stylized unit can be created faster than a realistic one while maintaining high artistic value. Games like Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, and Rush Royale are examples of how a cohesive 2D game art design provides brand recognition and excellent readability simultaneously.

Pixel Art

Nostalgia works. But pixel art isn’t just “old school.” It is a separate discipline with strict rules regarding palette restriction, dithering, and animation. It is well-suited for roguelites, tactics, and indie projects where players appreciate this type of 2D art.

An important point: pixel art units often require more time for animation than it seems. Every frame is drawn by hand – this adds up when there are many factions.

Flat / Geometric

This involves minimalism, geometric shapes, and a lack of volume. It works well in casual and hypercasual games, as well as UI-oriented titles. Production is the fastest among all 2D game styles. However, there is less expressiveness, so it is rarely suitable for midcore or complex strategies.

Hand-Drawn / Illustrative

This style offers maximum artistic value and a strong emotional impact. However, it also carries the highest production cost. Each unit is a bespoke piece of work. Scaling this to 10+ factions becomes expensive. It is used in premium projects where the visual style is a central marketing element.

Cel-Shaded

Technically, this is a hybrid: a volumetric drawing with flat fills and sharp outlines. It is popular in gacha games, visual novels, and anime-style projects. Production is medium in complexity but requires strict control over stylistic unity among artists.

What Really Affects the Cost of Units

This is the question clients ask first. And the correct answer is – “it depends on several parameters.” Here they are:

Silhouette Complexity. A simple silhouette (archer, spearman) is faster and cheaper. Detailed armor with a cape, wings, and unique weapons takes longer and costs more. Moreover, the increase is non-linear: a complex unit can take 3–4 times longer than a simple one.

Level of Detail. A mobile unit (64–128px) and a midcore unit (256–512px) represent different volumes of work. On mobile, you can simplify textures and remove unnecessary elements. In midcore, every detail must be readable.

Number of Variations. One base unit has one price. Ten factions with that unit should ideally not be ten times more expensive, but rather 3–5 times, if a modular approach is used. But only if that approach is planned from the start.

Animation. A static unit (idle + death) versus a fully animated one (idle, walk, attack, hit, special, death) results in a massive budget difference. For mobile, a minimal set is often enough. For PC/Console, a full animation breakdown is required.

Style. Stylized is cheaper and faster than hand-drawn or realistic. This doesn’t mean it is worse – it just means a different production logic.

Why Every Unit is Made from Scratch without a System

This is one of the main pain points clients bring to us. An artist drew 5 units. They look beautiful. Then 15 more are needed for a new faction – and it turns out that every unit has different proportions, its own palette, and a different approach to shadows. The visual style suffers from “style drift”. New units don’t fit with the old ones. Everything has to be redone.

The correct approach looks different: first, you build a system, then you build the units. The choice of 2D game art styles should be a part of this initial systemic planning.

What is included in the system:

– Style Guide – proportions, palette, line thickness, principles of light and shadow.

– Modularity – a base body silhouette upon which elements (helmet, armor, weapon, cloak) are overlaid. Instead of 20 unique units, you have a system that generates them through combinations.

– Faction Color Schemes – defined in advance and applied via color swap or separate layers.

– Animation Templates – general rig principles that allow for the reuse of animations between units of a similar type.

It is this approach that allows for scaling. Without it, every new content patch turns into a production crisis.

Typical Client Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Over years of working with studios of various scales, we have seen the same mistakes repeated. I mention this not to judge, but to save you time and budget.

Overcomplicated Design. A client wants a “cool” unit and overloads it with details. It looks impressive in the concept art. In the game, under a top-down camera at a 64px scale, it turns into an unreadable smudge. The golden rule: one main visual accent per unit, everything else is secondary.

Style Not Adapted for the Camera. Top-down and side-scroll are fundamentally different tasks. In top-down, the upper part of the body and the silhouette from above are vital. In side-scrolling, the profile, movement, and legs matter. If an artist draws “just a beautiful character” without considering the camera angle, the result will be poor in the game, even if the concept is beautiful.

Ignoring Scale. All details are lost when scaled down. You need to test units at the actual game scale from the first iterations, not after final approval.

Lack of a Reference Unit. Without one approved “benchmark” unit, it is impossible to maintain a consistent style when multiple artists are working. One draws “harder,” another “softer,” and after 20 units, the visuals fall apart.

Production Pipeline: From a Brief to the Final Asset

This is what the professional process looks like regarding how to make 2D game art  –  not in theory, but in practice.

1. Brief and Analysis. We determine the genre, camera, target scale, platform, style, number of factions, and animation requirements. Without this, the volume cannot be estimated.
2. Style Guide. We develop a document with the style rules. This is not an optional stage – it is the foundation of everything. One or two benchmark units are approved by the client.
3. Modular Layout. We work through the base types (light, medium, heavy) and determine which elements can be reused.
4. Production. Artists work according to the agreed-upon style guide. Intermediate checkpoints are mandatory. This ensures the consistency needed for creating 2D art at scale. Final assets are immediately checked in the engine at real scale and lighting.
5. Animation (if needed). The rig is built with reuse in mind. Base animations (idle, walk) are unified by the skeleton.
6. Final Integration. Assets are delivered in the format agreed upon in advance (PNG, sprite sheet, skeleton data for Spine, etc.).

Unity, in its official documentation on skeletal animation, emphasizes: splitting a character into modular parts with a shared skeleton allows for the reuse of animations between different sprites and significantly speeds up production – this is exactly the principle behind a scalable unit pipeline.

How to Choose a Style for Your Project

A few practical guidelines to find simple 2D art styles that work for you:

– Mobile, many units, limited budget → stylized or flat. Fast, scalable, reads well on small screens.

– Midcore strategy or tactics → stylized with detailing or cel-shaded. A balance between expressiveness and production speed.

– Indie with a focus on atmosphere → pixel art or hand-drawn. Requires more time but provides a unique visual voice.

– Gacha, collection games → cel-shaded or illustrative. Every unit must “sell” itself visually.

The main thing is not to choose a style based on “I like it.” Choose based on “this works for my mechanics, my camera, and my budget.”

How to Work with an Outsource Team

A good 2D studio art team is not just a group that “draws something for you.” It is a full production partner. To ensure a smooth collaboration, the client needs to provide:

– A clear brief: genre, mechanics, camera, platform, style (or at least references).

– A list of all required units with prioritization.

– One person on the client side who makes final decisions on the art.

– An understanding that the first iteration is a test, not the final version.

For its part, a good team will provide a style guide, a benchmark unit for approval, and a transparent timeline.

VSQUAD Studio has been working in game outsourcing since 2015. During this time, we have grown from small indie projects to AAA titles – Wayfinder, Ruined King, SMITE, and Darksiders Genesis. Our work has been featured at Steam Festivals, Gamescom Latam, and our clients include studios from the USA, Norway, Germany, and Brazil. We can enter the production process within 48 hours and scale the team to meet project needs. The VSQUAD team received the “Consumer Choice 2024” award as one of the leading providers of comprehensive creative services in the game industry.

A System is the Product Itself

A visual system for units is not something that “just happens.” It is the result of decisions made at the start: style, modularity, proportions, faction color codes. The earlier these decisions are made consciously, the fewer revisions, reworks, and budget surprises you will face later.

If you are at the stage of choosing a style, forming a pipeline, or searching for a team – write to us. We will analyze your task and offer a solution that scales. Contact us —> 📩 [email protected] or schedule a call.