Summary
- PixilArt offers a flexible pixel art tool with competitions and tutorials.
- Gartic Phone is a fun party art-sharing game with basic tools for group play.
- Tee K.O. allows players to design t-shirts and even buy the designs.
Art games can be a vessel for creativity or a hilarious way to play with friends and family. Sometimes at the same time. These games range from those that tell beautiful stories about the joy and heartache of creative pursuits and others are party games that devolve into stick figures and rude scribbles.
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Here are some of the best art games, with varying degrees of artistic prestige, that encourage players to share their work. Note that the art showcased here is elementary, and is in no way representative of the true extent these games can be utilized to create fantastic artwork.
7
PixilArt
Just Start Drawing
PixilArt gets an honorable mention in this list. It is an insanely flexible pixel art tool that has gamification elements in its extended functions and community. There are user-generated competitions and challenges that create a competitive and collaborative space for artists.
There are so many ways to share work on Pixil Art, including galleries and export options. It can be downloaded or used in the browser. There is also a wide range of tutorials and templates to get people started. There is also a huge range of tools, including the coveted fill tool often missing from art games.
6
Gartic Phone
What is that even supposed to be?
Gartic Phone is free to play and operates in-browser but has ads in between games. There is a wide range of modes to choose from, including exquisite corpse and an animation mode. Many modes can easily be played in a group or solo and settings can be adjusted to suit the needs of the group.
The tools are rudimentary, and it is absolutely more of a party art-sharing game than a tool for masterpieces. However, in the right hands, the artwork can be surprisingly good. In the wrong hands, they are hilarious. Players have the option to share their work after the game has finished.
5
Tee K.O. T-Shirt Knock Out
Welcome To T-Shirt Island
- Release Date: 2016
- Developer: Jackbox Games, Inc.
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch
- Website: https://jackbox.tv/
Tee K.O. is a t-shirt design game released in Jackbox Party Pack 3. While it shares a lot of similarities with other party drawing games, the twist is that in Tee K.O. you are designing t-shirts. Players make a series of drawings and slogans and then are tasked with making combinations of drawings and slogans. Players and the audience vote to determine which is best.
The main reason that Tee K.O. is so high on this list is that it allows players to share their artwork in a unique way. Jackbox has found another way to monetize its games. In a stroke of merchandising brilliance, players and audiences can buy the t-shirts they designed.
4
Bombing!! 2: A Graffiti Paradise
No Graffiti, No Problems
- Release Date: 2023
- Developer: Devon Wiersma
- Platforms: Windows
Bombing!! 2 allows the player to make the entire world their canvas. It is a street art simulator that has story-line elements. Using a range of tools and a classic RGB color picker, the player has a lot of options for how to tackle their creative works. Almost everything, except the NPCs, is paintable.
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Bombing!! 2 has a free demo on Steam that offers a tantalizing glimpse into the stylized cartoon world and the tools at the player’s disposal. There are a lot more features available in the full game. The game offers a photo mode and an easy save-to-folder function, facilitating easy sharing. Players are also able to share their work on Steam or in the game Discord.
3
Passpartout: The Starving Artist
Colors Too Crazy For Me
- Release Date: 2017
- Developer: Flamebait Games
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Windows and Mac OS
Passpartout is a delightful and at some points deeply depressing game about a struggling artist trying to make a name for himself in the art world. The tools are relatively basic to start off with, but the painting mechanics work well. Players must paint works that will sell, negotiate prices, and navigate their artistic reputation.
The game has an easy-to-use save function that allows players to download their artwork rather than using the Steam screenshot function. The protagonist is charming and goofy with sad humor. There is also a sequel available.
2
SuchArt!
Many Wow
- Release Date: 2022
- Developer: GooseMinded
- Platforms: Windows
SuchArt! is the ideal art game. There is a storyline running through the game, but if players just want to mess around and make beautiful (or terrible) art, they absolutely can. There are so many tools to play with and a color-picking system that is both fun and intuitive. Players can paint on just about any surface and with just about anything.
From a purpose-built art studio in outer space, the player can fill orders that come in on the computer or ignore them entirely. A free demo is available on itch.io and Steam, but it is worth buying the full game to get the entire experience. The developers encourage and share the submissions of players through social media and there is a vibrant art sharing community on the Steam discussion forum. It’s incredible what people can achieve with the tools provided.
1
Different Strokes
Add Another Layer
- Release Date: 2022
- Developer: Different Folks
- Platforms: Windows
SuchArt! might be the best artist simulator out there, but for sheer collaborative potential, Different Strokes has it beat hands down. It’s essentially a gallery of user-generated art that can be edited by other users. Only two player layers are allowed for each painting, then it is put aside for exhibition.
Popular artworks are given pride of place, and it is truly remarkable the images that players are creating in this game. It is free to play, but there is also a deluxe edition of Different Strokes available as DLC. It allows access to a cordoned-off art studio.
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