Day 01: The title screen of your gameThe game's name in block letters over one scene. Leave a clear strip at the bottom for the words Press start.
Day 02: The hero of your game, standing stillA flat side view in four colors or fewer. Fill the outline in solid: it should still read when small.
Day 03: The hero walking, in three framesFront foot down, legs passing, back foot down. Keep the head at one size in all three.
Day 04: The hero jumping, in three framesA crouch, a stretch on the way up, a squash on landing. The body changes shape and keeps its size.
Day 05: The starting itemThe first thing the hero owns: a lantern, a rope, a map. Draw it alone in a square, as a menu would show it.
Day 06: The first room, seen from the sideA floor, two ledges and a door. Keep the background paler than anything the hero can stand on.
Day 07: Ground tiles for the first roomSix small squares that repeat: a grass top, plain earth, a left edge, a right edge, a corner, a slope.
Day 08: The weakest enemySmall, round and slow. Give it one feature that shows which way it is facing.
Day 09: A coin or gem to collectA plain shape with one highlight. Draw it four times, turning, as if it spins in place.
Day 10: A health pick-upA shape a player reads as good at a glance: rounded, bright, unlike any enemy's outline.
Day 11: The health bar and the scoreA strip along the top of an empty screen: small icons or a bar on the left, digits on the right.
Day 12: The shopkeeper and the shelf behind themWaist up behind a counter. Put six things on the shelf, each one a clear outline.
Day 13: The shop's price listThree items in boxes with a number under each. Draw the digits in lettering made for this game.
Day 14: The world mapA view from above with a dotted path through five places. Mark each place with a small picture, not a word.
Day 15: A save pointOne object the player learns to look for: a lamp, a bench, a bell. Add a glow that no other object has.
Day 16: A second enemy, one that fliesMake its outline unlike day 8's, so the two can be told apart as solid shapes.
Day 17: A hazard to jump overA gap, a puddle, a row of thorns. Points and hard edges warn before anything is touched.
Day 18: A locked door, and a key shaped to matchMatch the two by shape or by color, so nobody needs a label to pair them.
Day 19: The inventory screenA grid of twelve boxes. Fill five with items from earlier days and leave the others empty.
Day 20: A helper who gives one hintFriendly from far off: round shapes, a raised hand, a speech bubble holding three dots.
Day 21: A power-up, before and afterThe hero twice: plain, then changed by one thing a player would notice at once.
Day 22: A second world with new weatherRedraw the day 6 room under snow, sand or rain. Keep the layout and change the palette and the tiles.
Day 23: A puzzle with a moving platformOne screen as a plan: where the hero starts, what moves, where the exit is. Arrows show the motion.
Day 24: The door to the bossTaller than the hero and unlike every door before it. It should hint at what waits behind.
Day 25: The bossSeveral times the hero's height. Borrow one shape or color from the weakest enemy so the two look related.
Day 26: The boss transformed into its second formKeep one part from day 25 so it is clearly the same character, and change the outline around it.
Day 27: The game over screenTwo words in the title's lettering, the hero sitting down, and two choices underneath.
Day 28: The ending sceneOne still picture: the hero, the helper and the shopkeeper together in the first room.
Day 29: The box coverA tall rectangle: the hero large, the boss behind, the title across the top and nothing else.
Day 30: The hero again, laid beside day 2Draw the standing pose once more, then put the two side by side and look for what changed.
Month 2: games you have played 30
Day 01: The first game you remember, as one screenWork from memory, wrong details and all. Put the hero where your eye used to go first.
Day 02: The first boss that beat you, from memoryMake it as big as it felt. Add yourself as a small figure at the bottom edge for scale.
Day 03: An item you saved all game and never usedDraw it in its menu box with the count beside it, still at the number you started with.
Day 04: The level you were stuck on, as a mapA plan from above or from the side. Mark the spot where you kept failing with a cross.
Day 05: A character you always picked, standing idleWhat they do while the player does nothing. One pose, side view, outline first.
Day 06: A character you never once pickedGive them the pose of someone left on the bench, in the colors you remember.
Day 07: The kindest helper you met in a gameWaist up, with the one thing they handed you drawn larger than life.
Day 08: A menu you could use with your eyes shutBoxes and arrows only. Trace the path your thumb took with a dotted line.
Day 09: The safest room in any gameThe place where the music calmed down. Round shapes and one warm light.
Day 10: An enemy you met a hundred times, off dutySitting, eating or facing the other way: whatever it does when no player is near.
Day 11: The emptiest corner of a map you exploredThe place you walked to for no reason. A wide view, the hero small, the horizon low.
Day 12: The first thing you did when a game let you roamOne picture of it: up the wrong hill, after an animal, straight into the sea.
Day 13: A sound from a game, as a pictureA jump, a coin, a door. Give the sound a shape and repeat the shape the way the sound repeats.
Day 14: Something you rode or droveSide view with the rider on board. Three lines behind it are enough to show speed.
Day 15: Food from a game you wished was realOnce at the size of a menu icon, once large on an ordinary plate.
Day 16: The outfit you kept on the longestThe clothes alone, front view, laid flat like a paper doll's.
Day 17: A small creature that followed you aroundBeside the hero's boot for scale, with one feature big enough to read from far off.
Day 18: You and a friend inside a game you sharedTwo small figures on its screen, each in one color of your own.
Day 19: The weather you remember from a gameOne screen with nobody in it. Draw the rain, fog or snow as a pattern over the scene.
Day 20: A secret you found by accidentA cracked wall, a gap, a hidden door. Draw the moment just before you found it.
Day 21: The screen you saw each time you lostKeep its layout from memory and letter the words by hand.
Day 22: A hint the game gave you too lateA sign with a picture on it and no words, standing just past the hard part.
Day 23: The hardest jump you ever made in a gameA side view of the gap, with the hero drawn three times along one arc.
Day 24: Something you built or decorated in a gameFront on, from outside. Use flat shapes and leave out anything you cannot remember.
Day 25: The find that made you happiestIn the middle of the page with rays behind it, held up by a small figure.
Day 26: A place you could see and never reachDraw what you think was there, inside a circle like a view through a telescope.
Day 27: What a loading screen showed while you waitedA bar, a spinner or one small picture. Draw it filling up in four steps.
Day 28: Heroes of two different games, shaking handsSide by side at one scale. Each keeps its own palette, so the join shows.
Day 29: The last room of a game you finishedOne wide screen. Make the way out the brightest thing on it.
Day 30: The game you would replay first, as a box coverA tall rectangle, one figure, one place. Leave the title off: the picture should say which.
How it works
This video game drawing challenge is a month of thirty numbered prompts that add up to the art of one small game you invent: a title screen, a hero, items, enemies, a map, a boss and a box cover.
Read the full guide
Month 1 doubles as a game character drawing challenge
The hero stands still on day 2, walks on day 3 and jumps on day 4. An enemy, a shopkeeper, a helper and a boss in two forms follow, with the rooms and screens they live in. Day 30 is the hero again, laid beside day 2.
Month 2 uses games you have played
A menu under the button changes month: choose Month 2. Its prompts pick a subject by rule, such as the first boss that beat you, drawn from memory. No game or character is named: you bring them.
Going in order
The sheet lists the month you chose from day 1 to day 30, and every prompt starts with its day number. Print this list puts it on paper with a box to tick for each day.
Keep every day on the same size of paper, so day 30 can lie beside day 2.
Days 6, 7 and 22 share one room. Keep the day 6 drawing where you can see it.
Questions and answers
What is a video game drawing challenge?
A run of drawing prompts on game subjects, one a day. This one is numbered day 1 to day 30 and builds a single invented game in order, so the drawings belong together when the month ends.
Do I need pixel art skills or a tablet?
No. Every prompt works in pencil on paper. The hints ask for what makes a drawing read as game art in any medium: a flat side view, a few colors, an outline that still reads small.
Can I draw characters from games I already play?
Yes, in Month 2. Each prompt chooses the subject by rule, such as an item you saved all game and never used, and you supply the game. The page names no game, studio, console or character.
Do I have to start on the first of the month?
No. The days are numbered and tied to no calendar date. Start on any day, and after a missed day carry on from the number where you stopped.