We've seen a surge in the popularity of monochrome game art in recent years. Like in film, what was originally a product of necessity is now a deliberate stylistic choice used to evoke atmosphere, nostalgia or emotional intensity.
It's a sign of how popular monochrome game art has become that Steam's currently hosting a dedicated sale event. The Steam Monochropoly festival runs until 3 August, showcasing a host of creative game made using monochromatic or significantly restrained colour palettes.
The individual art styles range widely, including retro pixel art, atmospheric and moody environments darker than a death metal album cover, comic book-inspired mystery and stylish noir. Here are a few standout titles.
if you're ready to start making a game of your own, see our guides to the best software for game development and the best laptops for game development.
O Empire Ward Off Thy Rot
Developer Dean Moynihan describes O Empire Ward Off Thy Rot as a slow, meditative single-player survival focused on travel and endurance across a bleak continent. You'll have to carry an evil artifact, manage scarce resources and scavenge abandoned places. With hauntingly evocative shader work, the art style is eerie and sinister, right down to the death metal-style illegible logo design.
You Are Family
![You Are Family - Teaser Trailer [PC & Consoles] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W2aZeiqOyNs/maxresdefault.jpg)
You are Family from Kramelman and DevilishGames is a game that uses a restricted palette to build an unsettling and chilling atmosphere at a secluded country house. "With the soul of a B-movie, horror and humor blend without restraint while you solve puzzles, investigate clues, and fight to survive," the developers say.
DOPROS
Set in a grim, stylised reality, the dark narrative game DOPROS from The Witchers Circle uses stark visual contrast to create a feeling of oppression and claustrophobia for an Orwellian dystopia. The challenge is to pass an interrogation as a suspect, but you're not sure what you did.
TypeCaster
With a much cleaner cartoony art style, Typecaster from TBA Studio is a 2.5D Type 'em up action RPG. You'll need fast reflexes and precise typing to battle hordes of monsters, harness spells and uncover treasures.
Helix: Descent N Ascent
Belgian indie studio Badass Mongoose has been turning heads with Helix: Descent N Ascent. Its sublime lineart that recalls 1980s black-and-white indie comics, 1990s manga, and classic Franco-Belgian graphic novels.
Simple landscapes ripple with movement; walls, stairs, and architecture aren’t just background, they become part of the narrative, interacting with the player in subtle, almost cinematic ways.
PAGER
PAGER turns a mundane office environment from the 1990s into a setting for an unnerving psychological horror. Starting your first day on a new job, you must follow the increasingly bizarre and Kafkaesque instructions that arrive on your pager to try to climb the corporate ladder. But things soon start to turn very strange.
It proves one again that photorealism can be overrated when it comes to inspiring terror. The pixelated 3D graphics and gorgeous black-and-white dithering don't only root the game in its historical setting but they also make it feel more disturbing since things are less clear. You have only the bare bones of information that you need to understand the scene, making the world feel familiar but mysterious and alien at the same time.
Check out more games from the Monochropoly event on Steam. For more inspiration see our interviews with the best indie game devs.
