If you follow me on social media, you probably know that I love playing video games—I think they’re a great source of inspiration, especially now that there are so many different genres, styles, gameplay modes, etc. I personally can spend hours wandering in open worlds, looking at the grass and flowers, sky and clouds, as well as just take time to stare at a simple point-and-click illustrations.
When it comes to choosing what game I’ll be playing next though, the main thing I look at is… the graphics! I cannot play a game if I don’t like the art style of it—which probably made me miss a bunch a pretty good games, to be fair.
Anyway, let’s not wait any longer—here’s a list of 10 games that have a style and a vibe that remind me of my favourite picture books! Hope you enjoy this list!
Before we really get started, though, I just wanted to point out that the art styles I personally love when it comes to game and illustration in general might not please everyone—we all have different tastes, after all. In this list, you’ll mostly find games with a hand drawn or painted style, cute graphics, child-like designs.
Also, note that I won’t go really deep into these different games’ gameplay details, as it’s not the goal of this post—I really just wanted to share some games whose graphics I love and that really inspire me when it comes to creating my own children’s book illustrations!
1. Dordogne
Dordogne is a narrative game where you play as Mimi, a 32-year-old woman who goes back to her grandmother’s home after she’s passed away. You’ll have to find letters, childhood memories, solve puzzles, etc…
This beautiful story is accompanied by absolutely breathtaking watercolours, that make everything feel even more poetic. You’ll definitely love exploring all the hand painted landscapes of Dordogne.
This game is only available since the 13th of June, and I have to admit that it already holds a special place in my heart, as my grandparents actually live in Dordogne. Looking at the game’s artworks makes me feel like I was wandering in my own grandma’s paintings.
2. Carto
Carto is a lovely game where you play as Carto, a little girl who has been taken away from her grandma after a storm. She uses her talents to create maps and change the shape of the world in order to find her way back home. Along her journey, she meets new friends, discovers faraway lands and their cultures and inhabitants. Typical children’s books’ topics, right?
Again, the art style looks hand painted and the colours used are absolutely soothing. The character you play as being a kid, it seems to make it perfect for you to play with your own children!
3. Mineko’s Night Market
Mineko’s Night Market is a sim and narrative game that is highly influenced by Japanese culture, and cats. Lots of cats. It also tackles the topics of friendship and tradition.
You will play as Mineko, a little girl who just came to a little town next to the Fugu Mount. She’s very curious and wants to discover the secrets that surround this town. In order to do so, she’ll have to explore the night market and play games, solve mysteries, craft items… and somehow, disguise herself to go to places she shouldn’t be allowed to.
This game is not out yet—it will be available on the 26th of September—but I can already see myself loving it! The graphics, the story, and the characters look absolutely charming and whimsical, and the Japanese influence make it very unique, too!
4. Teacup
In Teacup, you play as a shy frog named Teacup, and going on a journey to find ingredients to prepare a lovely tea party with her friends. It is a short game that is mostly based on narrative and exploration.
Teacup will explore the beautifully illustrated world of Little Pond in order to gather all the ingredients that she needs. The landscapes you’ll visit are whimsical and filled with lovely details that you’ll probably have lots of fun looking at! And the noisy texture added to them makes them feel even deeper.
All the characters are anthropomorphised animals who are all really cute and funny, each of them having their very own character and personality.
Also, I really love the map you can use to see the places you’ve been through—the way it’s made really reminds of the maps you find at the beginning of a lot of children’s novels!
5. The Wild at Heart
The Wild at Heart tells the story of two friends who run away from their everyday lives into the forest, where they discover a hidden realm and its guardians, tiny creatures who are lost and need help to find each other. In turn, these little creatures will help the two kids explore the forest, fight monsters, and build items. But careful, because when the night comes, evil beings creep into the woods’ shadows…
There again, we have a gripping story depicting two child-characters, a lot of magic, cute creatures, a bunch of funny-looking characters… All of them drawn in a beautiful way that makes the forest look even more mysterious.
6. Songs of Glimmerwick
The story told in Songs of Glimmerwick is not intended to kids specifically, the character you play as being a witch in a magic university, but I still really wanted to share this game because of its amazing graphics. They are filled with colours, grainy textures, plants and flowers, and this is exactly the style that inspires me to create my own children’s books’ illustrations. Make it magical, and you basically have it all!
I don’t think the game is available yet, but I’ll let you enjoy those amazing graphics anyway, as well as their magical atmosphere.
7. Aka
Aka is another very relaxing game—did you notice how much I love these? You play as a red fox who used to do war, go on the battlefield, but is now over with this and wants to find inner peace. Though, once again, it’s not a game intended to children, the animal characters and the hand drawn backgrounds really remind me both of some picture books’ universes and Studio Ghibli’s. I would read the story of Aka if it were a picture book.
As the main character, you’ll have to help other animals, but also some spirits, and take care of nature. The characters are lovely, kind and compassionate to each other. Isn’t it what a lot of beautiful picture books are all about, too?
8. Baladins
Baladins is a game inspired by tabletop roleplaying games, where play as a “Baladin”, someone who wants to bring joy to other people. You will travel around the world and make your own choices, allowing each play through to be different from the one before!
Now, I can’t say the graphics of Baladins actually remind me of those of a children’s book. However, the mix of the 3D—for the background—and 2D—for the characters, as well as some handful items—artworks kinda makes me feel like when I was a child—I would draw and cut characters and then play with them, as though they were evolving in the real three-dimensional world. That really is the thing that immediately came to my mind the first time I saw this game.
9. Lost in Play
This game definitely has a children’s book vibe, that’s for sure! Though this is the only one that doesn’t look hand painted among the games I’m talking about, its graphics style makes it look like cartoons such as Over the Garden Wall or comics and graphic novels intended to kids.
Lost in Play tells the story of two siblings who are… lost in their own imagination. In order to get back home, they’ll have to solve mysteries and tackle challenges.
You’ll also find some references to well-known kids’ books—from Pinocchio to the Gruffalo—, which only just highlights more its picture book-esque atmosphere, at least in my opinion!
10. Sunset Hills
And here we are with the very last game from this list, I named—Sunset Hills. Well, just like some other games from this list, Sunset Hills is not exactly a children’s game. You will play as Nico, who has been discharged from the army and started to write novels. He decides to travel the world through train, and while discovering what life is like after war, the real purpose of his trip starts to emerge.
But though the story might not appeal to they very young players out there, I still thought I wanted to share this game, because I genuinely fell in love with the graphics! The backgrounds look hand painted and are filled with tons of detains, small objects, and all kinds of things that are just so, so lovely to look at. These illustrations feel very inspiring to me, as I really enjoy adding details into my own for kids to spot each time they read my books.
And, finally, the dog characters could absolutely be some children’s books’ characters—they’re all very diverse and unique, and they too have some small details on their clothings that you can have some fun trying to spot!
That’s it for this blog post. I hope you had a nice time reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it, and perhaps you even discovered some new games?
Are there some games that inspire you to create, too? Do not hesitate to leave a comment, I’d be more than happy to discover new games and inspirations as well!
Hoping to write again soon
Ilona Ro - Illustrations 