8 Games That Help You Beome A Better Artist

Highlights

Embrace your creativity without the pressure of perfection in these artistic games.
From learning color theory to flexing art skills, these games cater to artists of all levels.
Explore different aspects of art, from color palettes to shape elements, in a fun and interactive way.

There are plenty of games online that have elements of painting or where you play as an artist. Ranging from being an actual mechanic in the story to multiplayer silliness. They’re fun, but having a good piece of art isn’t necessarily the intended outcome.

Artist Split Image Feature split image of characters from the games mentioned

8 Best Games Where You Play As An Artist

Time to share that creativity with the world – these games put you in the shoes of some eccentric artists.

Of course, you could just create art. But you may not know how to draw or paint, feel stuck in your ways, not have a good foundation in the elements, or remember why art is important. That is where these games step in. They’ll help remind you what drew you to be creative in the first place.

8 Tint

Completing this puzzle in "tint." creates a gorgeous multi-color grid.

Not everyone gets to be involved in art classes, so getting into art may be a tad intimidating, and color is challenging for even a seasoned artist. This is where Tint comes in. This is a mobile art puzzle game with a focus on color. It features a digital watercolor experience where you have to get the paint to match a color in order to solve a puzzle.

This game can really help you out in learning color theory. The puzzles start off rather simple but are very satisfying. Ensuring that you won’t get bored in the process.

7 Colors Live

Nintendo Switch Colors Live styracosaurus drawing

Available on Nintendo Switch

This is the closest one can get to an art program on a console, but it isn’t just that. There’s a map for you to move around to access different challenges. Challenges are themes ranging from descriptors to limiting tools, and they change from location to location, which makes it more interactive than other art programs.

This isn’t a replacement for those programs, mind you. There’s a limited number of tools used for drawing, and drawing on a Nintendo Switch isn’t the easiest, even with a stylus. If you’re in a creative rut, this can really help you out.

6 Colorfy

Orange pink and green cat zoomed in partially colored in

Android and ios compatible

This is a classic coloring book app. You can choose images or upload your own and simply color them in. These types of games are marketed to be relaxing, but they can also be rather helpful to provide a creative break or to be useful to an absolute beginner.

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If you’re looking to wind down on your phone between life’s hecticness, then these games are a must.

How? Simple, this is a low-stakes way of trying out color palettes and experimenting. When it comes to color, paper is rather permanent, but in this digital space, you have more freedom to try things and learn what you like before moving on to other creative endeavors.

5 One Line Coloring

A squirrel made up of shapes and lines over a paper colored background

Available on Nintendo Switch

Line and shape are two of the core elements of art that you’ll utilize in this puzzle game. You aren’t technically making a final artistic project, but it is a good tool for learning how these elements are important.

Everything is made of shapes, even the most abstract or natural-looking ones. This game, while simple, shows you how shapes can be used in order to create more complex forms. The process of the puzzles and the final result can help aid you in breaking down complex shapes into simpler forms. This will really help you in the long run.

4 Passpartout 2 The Lost Artist

A happy frog with a beret is painted on the left hand side of the screen. The right shows the world you inhabit

Nintendo Switch, Microsoft, MacOS compatible

Painting is notoriously difficult in the digital realm, and this game certainly doesn’t make it easy, but it is a good tool to practice concepts. You are an artist traveling around this cartoon world, and people want to see your art. Take on commissions from landscapes to live portraits to please your patrons.

What makes this game a good tool is not the fact that you’ll create amazing artwork. It is quite the opposite. It’ll help you be fast, as well as realize the most important elements when working on a changing subject. It can also be a sketch exercise to warm up the artistic muscle before you start more serious work.

3 Different Strokes

Gallery of player uploaded/made art work.

If you really want to flex your art skills or desire a creative community to receive feedback from, then this could be exactly what you are looking for. This is an online game where you enter an art gallery and can upload your artwork, add it to others’ artwork, or help judge a completed one.

Cat from Super Cat Tales 2 in a tank and character from Harvest Town in a ship.

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This silly concept is really a front for a creative community of artists who want to have some fun. To make it more interactive, there are challenges that go in different galleries each week. You can push yourself to create or see what others are creating. Either way it’ll get you out of your head and creating again.

2 Chicory: A Colorful Tale

A screenshot from Chicory, showing a bakery employee reacting with excitement upon finding out that the player character is the brush wielder

PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, MacOS compatible

This game doesn’t help with your art skills, at least not in the way you might be thinking. Chicory is a story-based game where the world has lost its color. You are the apprentice to the great Chicory, the wielder of the brush, but they have disappeared. It is now up to you.

You will honestly have a very hard time making anything look nice in Chicory. But it reminds us how important art is—to you and to others. It’ll give you the drive to keep creating and remind you that a world without art is a rather boring one.

1 Dreams

This may just be an artist’s dream. This is a multiplayer game where you can create games and other forms of artwork. There are so many ways to play. You can obviously create, but you can also see what others have made by entering their worlds. There is also a story mode if you want your video game to have a bit more game in it.

There are tutorials and tools to help you out in whatever you wish to make. The tools are simple enough, and people have created some pretty amazing stuff, but it also comes with a price. Freedom. Freedom can be daunting and overwhelming, and here, you can truly create whatever, but it also means the possibilities and room to create more are endless.