This technique for making 2D pixel art look 3D is blowing people's minds

Think pixel art is only for simple 2D games? Not necessarily. Modern hardware and a bit of technical wizardry allows today's game developers to give 2D game art the illusion of depth, but many people are still stunned to see how that can be achieved.

While there are several ways to make 2D art look 3D (or 2.5D, some might say), one solo developer has broken down sprite stacking, a technique that small indie developers can achieve using game development software like GameMaker or open-source Godot Engine with no need for 3D modelling software. And the explanation lasts just one minute.

What is sprite stacking?

Sprite stacking is a development technique in which multiple 2D image slices are layered like horizontal cross-sections of a voxel model to make it look like objects have three dimensions without the need to use actual 3D models. The layers should be the same size and overlap but with small vertical offsets.

Modern CPUs allow thousands of sprites to be stacked without it affecting FPS (see our pick of the best laptops for game development). The perceived height and angle of an object are controlled by the degree to which each slice is offset and rotated, and a depth-sorting layer or hierarchy is used to make slices render correctly, giving the top slice highest priority.

In the video above, indie game developer Teo Chhim breaks down how to use the technique to give 2D game art depth. He's using the method to make a retro pixel art murder mystery game called Detective Fantasia: EXCALIMURDER inspired by the sword in the stone legend

Teo also shows how the technique can be used to make it look like textures are rotating.

While the concept of sprite stacking is hardly unknown, some people are blown away by the demonstration.

“I think my mind broke in real time as that bell formed,” one person writes in the comments. “Calls the video 101 Immediately goes from drawing squares to WITCHCRAFT,” another person writes.

”I always thought these were made with a single 3D model with some kind of filter applied, DEAM,” someone else says.

You can wishlist Teo's upcoming Detective Fantasia: EXCALIMURDER on Steam.