Best Hand-drawn Games on Steam
Games with art that looks illustrated, sketched, painted, or animated by hand.
Browse all Hand-drawn →
1Hollow Knight - Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.
Feb 24, 2017
In this game, you can…
- jump into the minds of characters and enemies to hear their thoughts and dig up secrets that aren't told in normal dialogue
- learn boss fights with no health bar, reading their patterns until you can tell you're winning just from how they move
- take on a near-mythic platforming gauntlet of saws and spikes that can take hours, then reach a hidden payoff at the end
- get dropped into a kingdom with no map, then slowly piece together where to go by exploring, backtracking, and unlocking routes
- customize your build with charms that can completely change how you fight and move, then swap setups to make the same boss feel different
- chain movement upgrades into fluid traversal: wall jump, double jump, dash, then dash through danger and bounce off enemies to keep flying forward
- realize you've charted a massive interconnected world when the full map finally clicks into place and you can see how everything connects
2Hades - Defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler from the creators of Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre.
Sep 17, 2020
In this game, you can…
- choose a power-up and trigger a new bit of gossip between gods mid-run.
- die, walk out of a blood pool at home, then talk to everyone for new dialogue and upgrades before trying again.
- give gifts to characters and get powerful keepsakes back, so your friendships directly change your combat build.
- swap between six weapons that play wildly differently, including aspects that can completely change how the weapon works.
- stack your own difficulty modifiers for better rewards, choosing exactly which new handicaps you want to deal with.
- finish a room, pick between two next paths, and watch your build evolve choice by choice until it collides with a boss fight.
- have the story react to exactly how your last run ended, with characters teasing or comforting you about specific deaths and wins.
3Cuphead - Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era, i.e. traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings.
Sep 29, 2017
In this game, you can…
- watch a boss go from two battletoads into a slot machine, then keep warping into stranger cartoon forms as you keep landing hits.
- bounce off pink bullets in midair to charge your super meter, then cash it in for weapon specials or a full super.
- run local co-op where one player can parry to revive the other mid-fight, turning near-deaths into sudden comebacks.
- fight bosses that transform mid-battle into new forms, sometimes with no health bar, until the next phase suddenly takes over.
- equip two weapons and swap instantly, changing your plan for a boss—or even a single phase—on the fly.
- thread through tiny safe zones while two or three attacks overlap, with timings that shift enough that you have to react in the moment.
- play brief run-and-gun levels that end fast and restart instantly, turning retries into a rapid-fire loop of experimenting and improving.
4Hades II - Battle beyond the Underworld using dark sorcery to take on the Titan of Time in this bewitching sequel to the award-winning rogue-like dungeon crawler.
Sep 25, 2025
In this game, you can…
- mute the music mid-boss and get a unique reaction for doing it.
- fight a boss whose music is so catchy you might stop attacking just to listen.
- run two separate campaigns with different routes, locations, and bosses: one in the Underworld, one on the surface.
- drop a binding circle on the floor and build your whole run around it.
- charge attacks, specials, and your cast into omega moves that spend magick and slow time while you aim.
- craft upgrades between runs with a cauldron, using reagents you gathered during your last escape attempt.
- swap keepsakes between regions mid-run to change what powers you're leaning on for the next stretch.
- get new dialogue and character reactions popping up even after dozens of runs.
5GRIS - Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.
Dec 13, 2018
In this game, you can…
- turn into a literal square.
- paint platforms into existence with light to make your own path.
- survive being chased by nightmarish figures in scenes that feel dangerous, even though the game has no normal death state.
- restore color to a dead black-and-white world, and watch new routes and spaces appear as it comes back.
- get shoved around by hostile wind, then become heavy as a cube to force your way forward.
- flip gravity and platform while the whole world reorients around you.
- gain new movement powers as your dress changes, from double-jumping to swimming, dolphin-like dashes, and gliding.
- reach an ending where you sing as darkness closes in, and a second voice finally sings back with you.
6OMORI - Explore a strange world full of colorful friends and foes. When the time comes, the path you’ve chosen will determine your fate... and perhaps the fate of others as well.
Dec 25, 2020
In this game, you can…
- swap everyone's mood mid-fight, where happy, angry, and sad counter each other and add extra effects when you get hit.
- trigger special follow-up attacks based on how close your friends are, with different effects depending on the relationship.
- make choices that open different areas, bosses, and endings, turning what looks like a short RPG into a much longer run.
- wake up in an empty white room with only a lightbulb, a laptop, blankets, tissues, and a sketchbook.
- fight bosses that change and escalate as the battle goes on, so the fight itself plays out like a story scene.
- roam a bright hand-drawn dream world, then step back into a quieter real town, with the game using that contrast throughout the story.
- replay for a whole second layer of content, with perfect-run conditions, a boss rush, and a superboss that expects real mastery.
- notice small details early, then come back later and realize they were foreshadowing, with scenes and objects clicking into place hours afterward.
7The Henry Stickmin Collection - A choose-your-own-path where failing is more fun than succeeding.
Aug 7, 2020
In this game, you can…
- shrink your character in a graphics editor to fit through a tunnel on top of a speeding train.
- call in your buddy Charles for help and watch his "assistance" turn into a whole new kind of chaos.
- reach the finale and combine earlier endings into new routes that branch into multiple distinct storylines.
- choose between attacks like a knife or a yo-yo and get fully animated, wildly different outcomes either way.
- click a character who only appears for a split second to snag a hidden bio before the scene moves on.
- pick the "wrong" option on purpose just to see a spectacular fail scene play out like a mini-sketch.
- escalate from a simple bank job into airship infiltrations, complex prison breaks, and a much bigger conspiracy without slowing down.
- replay a 30-minute run and realize there are hours of alternate fails, secrets, and endings hidden behind different choices.
8Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition - Spiritfarer® is a cozy management game about dying. As ferrymaster to the deceased, build a boat to explore the world, care for your spirit friends, and release them into the afterlife. The Spiritfarer Farewell Edition includes the heartwarming base game and three major content updates.
Aug 18, 2020
In this game, you can…
- take in a spirit, build them a home, run errands for them, then personally escort them to the Everdoor when they're ready to leave.
- have your ship slowly turn into a memorial, because the houses of departed spirits stay on deck after they're gone.
- play the whole journey in co-op as a cat, help with chores, and get hugged mid-adventure.
- build a ferry from scraps into a stacked, self-sufficient floating town with homes, farms, workshops, and animal pens.
- hug your passengers whenever you want, as a real action you do all the time.
- cook meals, learn each spirit's favorite foods, and watch them react when you finally serve the right dish.
- trigger set-piece events on the water like lightning storms, dragons, jellyfish swarms, and meteor showers to earn resources.
9Volcano Princess - Prepare the next monarch by finding her hobbies, training her for battle, and befriending the citizens she'll one day protect. Dive into an all-new parenting-simulator-RPG adventure, where every decision you make will not only affect the future of your daughter but that of an entire empire!
Apr 20, 2023
In this game, you can…
- raise the same kid into a warrior, a researcher, a courtesan, a mafia boss, or a world-ending demon on different runs.
- send her to etiquette school and have her come back with a sword, two boyfriends, and an existential crisis.
- date almost everyone, including girls, and even end up in a poly marriage with multiple partners at once.
- choose what kind of father you are and watch it branch into duels, dice gambling, horse racing, taming, and multiple endings.
- capture horses, train them, race them, and enter them in beauty contests as a whole progression path.
- pledge her to one of three lords, complete their tasks, climb noble fame, and then show it all off at the Birdie Festival.
- debate or fight people you challenge, with rhetorical debates as their own mini-game.
- finish a run, take permanent bonuses into the next one, and use that to chase secret endings across playthroughs.
10ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights - ENDER LILIES is a dark fantasy 2D action RPG about unraveling the mysteries of a destroyed kingdom. On this sorrowful journey, encounter horrific enemies against whom a moment of inattention could be fatal. Overcome these hardships and seek the truth with the help of fallen knights.
Jun 21, 2021
In this game, you can…
- fight by calling purified spirits and fallen knights to attack for you.
- chain six different spirit abilities, cancel into other attacks, and swap loadouts mid-fight to keep combos going.
- get a new boss ability like a grappling hook or double jump, then zip back through old areas to reach secrets you saw hours ago.
- build your entire moveset by mixing sword swings, magic shots, parries, counters, and summons from different spirits.
- parry on tiny platforms to stay in position when a dodge would knock you off a ledge.
- retry bosses fast because checkpoints sit close by, death doesn't erase progress, and early fast travel lets you warp to any respite.
- use the map's room colors to see what's fully cleared, what's missing collectibles, and where hidden exits still are.
