After more than a decade, the iconic Monkey Island adventure series finally returns with a sixth entry titled Return to Monkey Island, which is scheduled for release on September 19. This new episode, which takes place immediately after Monkey Island 2 but also acknowledges the events of the other sequels, employs a unique hand-drawn art style that breathes new life into this long-running series.
Rather than trying to make their games as photo-realistic as possible, some modern titles have created vibrant, immersive and colorful worlds using art styles that are or appear to be hand drawn. According to Metacritic, certain gamesare particularly excellent examples.
10 Machinery (2009) – 88
Developed by Czech indie studio Amanita Design, which has created other well-received titles such as happy game and the Samorost series, Machinery is a 2009 point-and-click adventure that was originally released as a Flash game. Set in a post-apocalyptic steampunk world populated only by robots, the game follows one of these robots, Josef, as he tries to save his girlfriend Berta and stop the Black Cap Brotherhood.
Apart from a few tutorials at the beginning, the entire game is conveyed through images rather than written or spoken words. While Josef solves puzzles and helps other robots in the title city, the player is immersed in a beautifully detailed world.
9 Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (2021) – 88
One of the best horror-based Metroidvanias is the dark fantasy game from 2021 Enderlilies: Quietus of the Knights, which follows an amnesiac woman named Lily. After waking up in a ruined sanctuary, she is greeted by the ghost of a knight who reveals to her that the entire kingdom of Land’s End has been cursed by an endless rainfall that turns every living thing into creatures known as ‘Destroyed’ .
As the last surviving White Priestess, Lily has the ability to purify devastated creatures and then summon the purified spirits to fight for her. With these powers, Lily must travel across the land to discover the source of the rain. In addition to an enjoyable in-depth gameplay, the game is filled with smooth animations and breathtakingly gloomy visuals.
8 Cup (2017) – 88
Based on 1930s cartoons, particularly Fleischer Studios’ “rubber snake” and surrealist style, cup is a 2017 run-and-gun in which up to two players control Cuphead or his brother Mugman as they progress through levels, acquire skills and fight bosses. After losing a bet with the devil, the two brothers must collect the souls of other individuals to pay off their debts.
Rather than simply have the aesthetics of 1930s cartoons, the developers tried to fully emulate the styles of the era by using traditional hand-drawn cel animation and watercolor backgrounds. Combined with the jazz soundtrack and old movie filter, cup really feels like it was made in that period.
7 I Was A Teenage Exo Settler (2022) – 89
Recently released on August 25, I was a teenage exocolonist is a visual new deck-building RPG that follows a customizable protagonist who gains the ability to see past lives and possible futures. Just like farm life sim stardew valley, This solar punk game lets the player start a new life in a small community, but this new life is with the colony on the alien planet Vertumna IV.
While experiencing their teenage years, the player will develop his skills, discover mysteries and possibly even make someone fall in love. All of these choices result in different cards that can be used in combat. To bring this vibrant world to life, the game uses beautiful, storybook-like visuals.
6 Hollow Knight (2017) – 90
One of the most iconic and most challenging video games to beat is the 2D Souls-esque 2017 hollow knight, who follows an unnamed insectoid warrior known as the Knight. After arriving in the small town of Dirtmouth, the knight discovers the ruins of Hollownest, which used to be a thriving kingdom before ‘The Infection’ ruined everything.
To stop this supernatural disease, the knight must find and kill the three dreamers so that he can open the door leading to the source of the infection and defeat it. Both this game and the upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, have stunningly detailed environments and cute designed characters.
5 Gorogoa (2017) – 91
Released towards the end of 2017, gorogoa is a relaxing, award-winning puzzle game about a boy who encounters a divine beast. equal to machinery, this story is not told through dialogue or written words, but instead through the visuals and gameplay.
Using a two-by-two grid, players solve puzzles by manipulating the panels within the grid, including moving, overlapping, clicking things, and zooming in and out. From start to finish, the game showcases beautifully detailed storybook-like graphics that easily convey a thought-provoking story.
4 Broken Sword: Director’s Cut (2010) – 91
Originally released in 1996, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars is an award-winning point-and-click adventure game and the first entry in the Broken sword series. The game follows a young American man named George Stobbart who teams up with French photojournalist Nicole “Nico” Collard to solve a series of murders linked to an ongoing conflict between the Order of Assassins and the Templars.
Years later, the game got an enhanced remake titled Broken Sword: Director’s Cut, which adds a new campaign where the player can control Nico. Both versions have a unique hand-drawn art style that helped differentiate the games from other point-and-click titles, but the added sections in the Director’s Cut contrast sharply with the original art.
3 Hades (2020) – 93
While all games from the indie studio Supergiant Games, including bastion, transistor, and pyre, breathtakingly beautiful art, the best example of this is certainly in their latest title: the award-winning Hades. In this villainous dungeon crawler, the protagonist Zagreus, son of Hades, discovers that his mother is actually Persephone and decides to make her way through the underworld to the surface to meet her.
In addition to the well-designed in-game environments and monsters, all of which have little details that help them shine, each of the character designs and portraits are memorable and beautiful. The design of a character allows the player to learn so much about his personality.
2 Raiders of the North Sea (2019) – 94
Raiders of the North Sea is a worker placement game from 2019 and a digital adaptation of the original 2015 award-winning board game of the same name. In this turn-based strategy game, the player controls a clan of Vikings as they sail to new lands so that they can raid those areas and return treasures to the Chieftain, and the clan with the most points wins.
To do this, the player must place and remove workers from a small village on the board, which will allow the player to get the crew members and amenities needed to complete raids. Along with the simple yet engaging gameplay, this digital version has a simple art style that adds enough character to the game without taking the focus away from the game itself.
1 Meteorfall: Journey (2018) – 95
Inspired by lordship and Dream Quest, Meteorfall: Journey is a deck-building roguelike for mobile devices and the first entry in the meteor fall series. As one of many unique heroes, the player must travel the world, fight enemies, defeat various bosses, find the Nucropolis, defeat the Uberlich and prevent the titular meteor from destroying the world.
With six different heroes to choose from, seven bosses to defeat, over 150 cards to collect and many unique events to encounter, Meteorfall: Journey is already an engaging gameplay experience in its own right. But the game also has a cartoonish art style that draws players even more into this crazy science fantasy world.
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