Realism Is Easy. Making a Game That Stays With You Is the Hard Part.
What Halloween, Minecraft, and my own game development journey taught me about the difference between looking real and feeling real.
“A game doesn’t need to look real to make you feel something real. The worlds we remember aren’t always the most realistic; they’re the ones that make us feel something.”
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Another year of monsters, ghouls, spooky parties, and the annual trick or treating adventure. My six year old daughter enjoyed it as much as I did.
And as I watched this year’s costumes and makeup, I noticed how incredibly realistic some of them had become. One costume even looked like a severed hand. Talk about commitment to the craft.
That got me thinking about realism.
A while back, my daughter was playing Minecraft and building her own little home. At some point, she noticed something about the world around her.
“Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?”
I told her Minecraft was designed to behave realistically in certain ways, just like the real world. Those details help make the game feel like a place you can actually live in.
She paused for a moment.
“Ooooooh.”
And there it was: a tiny moment of discovery, sparked by a video game.
As an artist and animator, I appreciate the work that goes into creating believable worlds. But when it comes to games, I’ve always leaned toward stylized art rather than realism.
Not because realism is bad. I just don’t believe a game needs to look like real life to make you feel something real.
The Deep Dive: When Realism Becomes the Goal
Modern AAA games often push visual realism to incredible levels. Every new generation of hardware gives developers more room to create detailed characters, lifelike lighting, realistic environments, and cinematic experiences.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Realism can help immerse players. A believable environment can make a fictional world feel tangible. A character’s subtle expression can make a scene more emotional. A carefully crafted atmosphere can make a quiet moment feel just as powerful as a huge action sequence.
But sometimes I wonder if we’ve become too focused on making games look real.
Because realistic graphics and meaningful experiences are not the same thing.
A game can have breathtaking visuals and still leave me feeling nothing. Another game can use simple shapes, limited colors, and deliberately exaggerated animation, and somehow stay in my mind for years.
For me, what matters most is the experience the game creates.
The narrative. The characters. The atmosphere. The environment. The music. The cinematography. The way the mechanics make you feel like you’re part of the story instead of just watching it happen.
And that’s what I love about video games.
They’re not just movies you control. They’re a medium where the player participates in the experience. Depending on the game, you might make choices that change the story, discover different paths, approach challenges in your own way, or reach an ending shaped by your actions.
Not every game needs branching storylines or multiple endings. Sometimes a linear story can be just as powerful.
But the ability to interact with a world, and to feel that your decisions matter, is something unique to the medium.
That’s why I get frustrated when people dismiss video games as entertainment for kids.
Games can tell stories about grief, identity, war, family, morality, sacrifice, and the human condition. They can challenge your beliefs, make you question your choices, and leave you thinking about a fictional character long after you’ve put down the controller.
And as someone who creates comics and animation, I see the same potential across different mediums.
A comic lets the reader control the pace. Animation brings movement, sound, and timing to a sequence. A video game gives the audience a role in the experience.
Each medium has its own strengths.
The goal isn’t to make one look or feel like another. It’s to understand what makes it special.
The Solution: What I’m Learning While Making My Own Game
Now I’m trying to apply these ideas to my own video game.
And let me tell you, it’s a different beast.
I’m used to drawing comics and creating animation. I can design a character, draw a page, animate a scene, and tell a story through images.
But making a game means bringing all those skills together with mechanics, level design, player feedback, pacing, and systems that actually work.
A beautiful character doesn’t automatically make a fun game.
A compelling story doesn’t automatically make the controls satisfying.
A cool monster doesn’t automatically make a good boss fight.
Everything has to work together, and the player has to enjoy interacting with it.
That’s the part I’m learning to respect.
As I develop my Zamora game, I’m reminding myself that I don’t need to compete with AAA studios on realism. I’m an independent creator working with limited time and resources. My strength is in the world I’m building, the characters, the atmosphere, and the stories rooted in Filipino mythology.
So instead of asking, “How realistic can I make this?”
I’m trying to ask better questions:
Does this world make the player curious?
Does this animation communicate what the character is feeling?
Does this environment create tension or wonder?
Does this mechanic make the player feel clever, vulnerable, powerful, or afraid?
Most importantly, is it fun to play?
Here are a few lessons I’m taking with me as an artist stepping into game development:
1. Start with the experience, not the graphics
Before adding details, decide what you want the player to feel.
Is this area supposed to feel lonely? Dangerous? Mysterious? Is the player meant to feel powerful, or completely outmatched?
Once you know the emotional goal, you can make better decisions about art, lighting, sound, animation, and gameplay.
2. Use stylization as a strength
Stylized art isn’t a shortcut or a compromise. It’s a deliberate way to communicate.
Exaggerated silhouettes can make characters easier to recognize. Strong colors can guide the player’s attention. Distorted proportions can make a monster feel unsettling.
You don’t need more detail. You need the right details.
3. Make every visual serve the game
As artists, we can spend hours polishing something because it looks beautiful.
But in a game, visuals also need to communicate.
Can the player tell where to go? Can they recognize danger? Can they read an enemy’s attack? Does the environment support the gameplay?
A design can be beautiful and functional at the same time.
4. Build a small playable experience first
It’s tempting to imagine a massive world with dozens of levels, enemies, cutscenes, and branching storylines.
I’m learning that the better approach is to start small.
One character. One environment. One enemy. One simple objective.
Make that experience enjoyable before expanding it.
A small game that feels good to play is a stronger foundation than a huge game that only exists in your imagination.
5. Let the story emerge through play
Don’t rely only on dialogue or cutscenes to tell the story.
The player can learn about a world through its architecture, objects, enemy behavior, level design, and the consequences of their actions.
Sometimes the most memorable story moment is something the player discovers for themselves.
6. Remember that “fun” doesn’t always mean happy
A horror game can be fun because it creates tension. A difficult game can be fun because overcoming a challenge feels rewarding. A sad story can be meaningful because it makes the player care.
Fun is about engagement, the feeling that the player wants to keep going.
And if the game isn’t giving them a reason to continue, no amount of realistic rendering can fix that.
Before and After: A Different Way of Thinking
I used to think about games mostly as an artist: the visuals, the animation, the atmosphere, and how beautifully a world could be presented.
Now, as I work on my own game, I’m learning to think like a game developer, too.
The art still matters. The story still matters. But they have to serve the player’s experience.
Realism can be impressive. Stylization can be powerful. Neither one guarantees a memorable game.
What matters is whether all the pieces come together to create something the player wants to experience, and something they’ll remember after the game is over.
That’s the kind of game I want to make with Zamora.
Not necessarily the most realistic game.
But one that makes you feel something.
One that pulls you into its world.
One that stays with you.
And if I can make that happen, I’ll consider it a win.
Your turn: What’s a video game that stayed with you long after you finished playing it, and was it the graphics, the story, or the experience that made it unforgettable?
I’d love to hear about it.
Until next time.
Keep creating. Keep experimenting. And remember: the best worlds aren’t always the ones that look most like ours; they’re the ones that make us feel something.
Subscribe to our newsletter:
Product Links:
#thescribblemedia #indiebasedstudio #animation #comics #webtoon #webcomics #services #platform #illustrationservices #computer #freelance #comicsandmanga #filipino #bisaya #bisdak #clipstudiopaint #clipstudio #clip #studio #ipadpro #tutorial #beginner #tips #videotips #newsletter #inspiration #art #creativedad #struggleofacreativedad #artistdad #artisticmomentum #creativehabits #buildingsystems #atomichabits #atomichabitsbyJamesClear
Comments