How To Design A Video Game Character: Step By Step Process With Tips and Tricks

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Choose Your Character! The Basics Of Character Game Design

The first tidbit I’ll share with you is simple: you have to start with the basics. The basics of character design are, well, basic! So don’t worry! You’ll have those down in no time. Why are the basics important? Well, you can’t do calculus without knowing a bit of algebra. Creating and designing any character is a task. Making sure that the character is a good fit within a game is a whole other task! Without mastering one, you can’t complete the other. 

In other words, you can’t make a video game character without making a character first. Really, any character could fit into a video game. The trick is knowing what story the character is to be the star of. Then, you can narrow down what type of game to create. It’s a good idea to think of your storyline first. Then, develop your character to fit inside the storyline. The storyline, of course, will later go inside of a game. Kind of like a matryoshka! (There’s your vocabulary word for the day!)

Protip: You don’t have to make a game all by yourself! I mean, you can, but you don’t have to! Making games is a ton of work. It might be a good idea to loop in a couple friends to help out! Either way, character creation is a huge part of any game development team. Experiment to find out what works best for you! 

Leveling up your Goals

Great, you have a general storyline for your character to star in! Now, you can begin to think about what type of game you’d like to create. It’s important to think about the genre of game you’re interested in creating. Of course, there’s no rules here. It might just be a little bit harder to adapt certain storylines into certain genres of gameplay. For example, a first person shooter doesn’t mesh well with romantic stories. 

Protip: Wanna know a great place to find tons of info all about character design, drawing ideas, and much more? You know it’s CharacterHub! There’s tons of helpful articles available with hundreds of ideas to help you get unstuck. Plus, you might learn something new!

Plus, the type of gameplay you decide to hone in on can impact the art style you will be drawing your character in. Some game genres work better in 2D compared to 3D, and vice versa. Again, there aren’t any rules to follow! For example, when you think of an RPG, you probably imagine some form of pixel art. For example, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are 3D modeled RPGs! In this article, we’ll mainly focus on 2D art. Don’t let that discourage you from trying out some 3D character models, though!  (SculptGL is a great place to start experimenting with digital sculpting!)

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In the above image, it’s clear to see how art styles can vary across genres. The first three examples are all pixelated. Despite their differences, their styles are still similar. Still, it’s pretty clear which style belongs to which genre. The platformer, with few details for the character, depends more on the background to pop. However, the visual novel has extremely detailed characters. This is partly because of what is more focused on in each genre. For example, visual novels are mostly geared towards characters and their stories. It’s natural, then, for these types of games to have more detailed character art. However, in platformers, the background is more important. Thus, it’s more detailed. Why? Because the backgrounds have the platforms! So, then, platformers are likely to have more detailed backgrounds. These details are important to keep in mind when designing your character. You wouldn’t want to try to make a super detailed sprite for a platformer! All the details would be lost! 

Protip: Look at each of the characters from the above image. Do you notice any special or unique traits? It’s important to distinguish your character from the rest. Sometimes, all you need is a simple ribbon, in Natsuki’s case! (She’s the pink haired character to the far right) 

Instantly, the ribbon sets her apart from the countless pink haired anime girls out there. You can always go big with the details, too! Have fun with the little details and finishing touches. 

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Going into Search Mode

There’s one more thing to do before you jump right into designing: research! Alright, alright, listen. As boring as researching can be, it’s important to know what designs work and what don’t. You don’t wanna find out that your OC is an accidental doppelganger to an already existing character! Plus, we all could brush up on some basics here and there. Knowledge is power, so let’s give your character a powerup!

Protip: To make your research a bit more fun, focus on topics or characters you already like. Try this! Study your favorite character’s design, and answer some of these questions:

• What role does this character play in the storyline of the game? How does this character fit into the game as a whole?
• If this is a playable character, compare their design with a non playable character. Are there any differences you notice? Why do you think this is?
• Are there any clues about the character in their design? Does the character’s design tell us anything about their personality or role?
• What emotions or feelings does this character evoke in players? How was this achieved through their design?
• How does the character's design change throughout the game's storyline? Does it reflect their growth or development as a character?

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There are countless things that would be a good idea to Google. This part will be different for every artist, and every project. Still, there are some subjects that would be helpful for most purposes. For example, character archetypes and tropes. I know ‘trope’ can sound pretty generic or cookie-cutter-like, but it’s really not a bad thing! Every character or personality will fit into some type of trope or archetype. So, it’s a good idea to be informed about them, so you can pick their archetype with confidence. Plus, things as simple as color theory and making a collection of references can really help. 

Let’s talk about references for a sec. References are absolutely crucial! In my personal experience, I’ve noticed some people shun using them. The truth is that those same people probably couldn’t draw a bike without a reference. Can you? So don’t feel like any less of an artist for using them! Plus, creating a collection of images can help you really narrow down your OC’s vibe. Or, you can create unique ideas by merging multiple references. Maybe you’d like to create a fantasy tree species. Why not combine the thick trunk of a baobab with maple leaves? 

Level Loading…Let’s design a video game character!

Designing a character for a video game starts the same way as designing any other character. Crafting their personality, their style, and overall look is common for making any OC. When making a character specifically for a game, though, other things have to be thought about. First, you have to decide the character’s role in the game. Is the character playable? If so, you have to think about how the character will interact with the player, if at all. A stubborn character may change their own clothes. Yes, even after the player carefully selects an outfit for them! This brings us to our next factor to consider: game mechanics. How does your character express themselves within the limits of your game? 

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Level Start!

1. Alrighty, step one! For this example, I decided to create a character for a RPG game. (My favorite!) RPGs can be in, really, any art style. Still, I decided to draw this character in pixels, because I like pixel art sprites. Some of my favorite RPG games are indie titles, including The Witch’s House, Ib, and Mad Father. So, I’ll take a bit of inspiration from those while designing my character and plot. Remember, working with things that you already enjoy helps the work feel a lot less like work!  

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1.  First, let’s decide who my character is! Let’s get to brainstorming. Believe it or not, there’s actually not just 1 way to brainstorm! If you’re having artist’s block, maybe you can try a new brainstorming method. Let’s discuss a few!some text
   • If you have zero ideas, zero inspiration, zero anything, try this! Grab a newspaper, magazine, old book, or anything you can get your hands on with written words and images. Cut out phrases, words, and pictures that you enjoy. (Or, ones that you can see potential in!) Lay out all of the photos and phrases in front of you. Now, the fun part! Play around with combining the phrases together to generate ideas. You can do the same with the images, too! You can use the concepts or styles in the images for inspo. Try photobashing them with a digital art program! I know this method is a bit wacky, but hey, it worked for David Bowie!
   • Another method is creating a mind map. Start with your concept at the center of a page. Then, draw branches related to your main idea. From there, you can make sub-branches relating to the branches. Now, you can add phrases or images along the branches and sub-branches. Finally, make connections between different elements. The goal here is to come up with ideas related to your main concept. By drawing these branches, you’re training your brain to branch out, too!

• Now, my all time favorite way to brainstorm! Free writing! This one is super simple. All you do is get a pen or pencil and some scrap paper. Then, write! Write anything and everything, just let it flow from your pencil without judgment. Don’t stop or censor yourself! When you’re done, read what you wrote. You might not be able to use every idea you jotted down. That’s okay! This exercise is just about getting the thoughts flowing with creative juices. 

2. After some brainstorming, here’s what I came up with! I’ll base this character off of myself for fun. (Cuz…why not? Quick tip: Self inserts can be a playful way to experiment!)  Let’s call her Scarlett Shadowthorne. Scarlett Shadowthorne is a sorceress, storing her power in a magical flower. She uses her powers to unravel curses set on the flora and fauna of the Darkwood Forest. One day, she found herself lost deep within the forest. As she removes the corruption from the twisted limbs, she gets closer and closer to the exit. Maybe the gameplay can include puzzles, too! So, with this game idea in mind, we can definitively say that Scarlett is our protagonist! 

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2. For this example, let’s assume that we already know all about the basics of character design. Before creating the pixel art, I created a colored sketch of the character. This will be a helpful reference for the next step! some text
   1. This step can be drawn digitally or traditionally. In this example, I drew the character digitally with the program ‘Procreate’. (ProTip! If you don’t have an iPad and Apple Pencil, don’t worry! If you DO have an IOS device, you can get Procreate Pocket! It’s a great little program. There are also tons of drawing apps for android users, too!) If you prefer traditional, pencil to paper drawing, you can totally do that! I recommend scanning your finished piece, or taking a photo of it. This way, you can insert your image into your canvas as a reference! 
3. Since I chose to create a character from pixel art, it’s a bit of a challenge to give her a unique silhouette. So, I’ve decided to help her pop by giving her an interesting color palette. Plus, since her name is ‘Scarlett’, I had to include a bit of red in her design! some text
   1. It’s super important to remember one thing if you’re planning to work with pixels. Most of your character’s features will be pretty vague most of the time! It’s a good idea to make all of your pixelated characters unique. This way, players will know who is who! Plus, who wants to play a game about a bunch of people with ‘Same Face Syndrome’? (Probably a few, but that’s not the point here!)

Protip: Right now is a good point to pause. Examine your character’s concept sketches and ask yourself one thing. Is this an example of good character design? Now, don’t get me wrong, it never has to be perfect. Pixel art can be a bit tricky, so now is a good time to decide if your OC needs any tweaks!

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4. Now, we can work on making her a sprite. Again, no rules here! So, this can be done freehand, with a grid, or with some helpful tools. For example, Piksel is a great pixel art site you could try out! It’s essentially a drawing program specifically for pixel art.  The image above was created using Piksel, in fact! This website also has an option to create animations, like walk cycles, too!some text
   1. Protip: Remember your background! Your character won’t be on a plain, white background in the game. (At least, probably not!) So, you need to think about how your character will look in a variety of backgrounds. Make a general color palette for the surrounding environment. Keep that palette in mind when choosing your characters’ colors!some text
      • This part is deceivingly simple! Pixels seem like a breeze, right? Wrong! Remember, most of your character’s features will be lost within the pixels. Now, Scarlett doesn’t even have a nose! Or a mouth, for that matter! You might need to exaggerate your character’s most important features at this stage to combat this. I suggest making multiple versions of the same sprite. Then, choose the one that is most unique! This way, you’ll make sure your character is distinct and recognizable. 
      • First, get your reference image of your character handy. If it’s digitally drawn, this part is basically already done. If not, you may need to scan it or otherwise digitize it. Once that’s done, it’s time for a bit more research! Pixel art, like any art, has countless styles and variations. Find a few references with a style you like. 
      • Now, you can finally get to work! You can freehand your pixelated character while looking at your references. Doing this will produce a totally original drawing, and is ideal for your final game. For now, though, you only need to worry about developing your character. For development purposes, or to practice, I recommend tracing. TRACING? Yes, tracing, with a big but. Yes, tracing is a good tool, BUT, only if done properly. No artist will suggest tracing another artist’s work and passing it off as your own. It also will not be good practice if you completely trace a picture. When I use tracing, I usually choose one part of an image to study. In the below example, I focus on the character’s head. I choose to do this, because it forces you to focus on the features of the specific part of the picture. some text
        1. Let’s talk tracing. The first step to proper tracing is using an art program that has layers. Good news- most do! Put your reference image as layer 1. Create a new layer, and lower the opacity a bit. (You can do this with Piksel!)

2. Now, trace the image, one pixel at a time. Using a bright color is a good idea! This way, you will know exactly what you’ve traced.

3. Finally, hide layer 1, and increase the opacity of your drawing layer. 

4. Now, use your traced image as a reference. Try to recreate it without looking at the original picture for more practice. As you can see, this will give you a general outline of the character. You can use this as a base for your own OC’s characteristics. Or, you can study the shapes that make up a pixelated character. Then, you can incorporate those shapes into your own pixel art of your character! The possibilities are endless with this tool.

• By doing this, you will learn the movements of how your favorite pixel art styles are drawn. Plus, how a character’s features can be broken down into simple pixels. Again, don’t do this outside of practice.  It’s never okay to use another artist’s hard work without asking. Plus, people can usually tell when something is traced. I mean, just look at the example! It’s definitely no Mona Lisa! Overall, tracing is a great method for learning, but a bad one for serious use. Don’t be ashamed to give it a try! If you’re worried about using another artist’s work, just use mine as a tracing reference. I don’t mind! 

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Level Completed! 

A winner is you! (If you recognize that retro reference, you get a gold star!) Now, it's time for work and play. Where you go from here is honestly a choose-your-own-adventure project. You may have to begin work on side characters, tweak the storyline, or countless other things. Making a video game is a ton of work! Hopefully, this guide helped with one of the many tasks you’ll be faced with! 

Stage Select! What to do next!

Maybe you’re not quite ready to start developing your game. That’s okay! Meanwhile, check out CharacterHub! For storing character profiles, concept art for your game, or to organize your ideation process, CharacterHub is truly…well, the hub for it all! Get ready to join the huge community of other artists, too. The community would love to get to know all your characters! After all, it’s dangerous to go alone! Click this!