Since we are currently discussing the usage of AI generated assets in Adventure games, I would like to know which games you know that feature art/graphics created with traditional, analogue media.

Hybrids are fine, as long as the analogue medium is recognizable.

I start this thread in "Other Games", since I am convinced there might be games that are not really "adventures" but should be mentioned here because they are awesome.

So please share the games you know about!

I stumbled upon this interactive pencil illustration 5 minutes ago and needed to share it, to make a start:

https://alexanderperrin.com.au/paper/shorttrip/

You can try it in the browser and support the artist on steam if you like to. It took the artist 5 years to create this, and it was released in 2024. The playtime is about 5 minutes, according to the creator.

Voilà! Here are 60 of the finest games rendered in clay. It's not a perfect list by any means, but nevertheless a good starting point:

https://www.mobygames.com/group/8241/vis...oby_score/

EDIT:

I've searched through all of the screenshots in the list and narrowed it down to some of the best choices for your convenience:

WOW. That's still a heap of variety to choose from in the clay animation world of video games, isn't it!

https://www.mobygames.com/game/1037/the-...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/7771/skul...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/75470/arm...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/55001/tan...eam/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/49954/the...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/74413/kir...rse/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/39317/ber...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/222261/ha...but/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/53169/be-...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/197285/clay-jam/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/41912/cla...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/60887/dom...ngs/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/102870/ge...use/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/73858/ipo...reenshots/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/241705/th...alk/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/181905/ju...ral/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/226515/on...ale/promo/

https://www.mobygames.com/game/134613/pi...tar/promo/

Amazing, thank you so much! I didn't know it was possible to sort games that way on mobygames. And I didn't expect that there are so many of such games!

You're welcome.  

The tagging system is an extremely powerful tool on MobyGames that I reckon rarely gets used. It's not without its flaws though, for example the original link I provided had lots of mixed media amongst all clay animation stuff, which is why I felt it was necessary to hand-select the best games for you in order to save time.

Mixed Media is totally fine though, since I find games that were created with "real non-digital materials" interesting in general. So it doesn't have to be clay, it could also be wood, or papercraft, or oil paintings ... (or characters carved from wood in a digital environment)

I guess I would just have listed games I have played myself so far as examples. But that's now a list for digging through, haha.

I would for example also add Four Last Things, The Procession to Calvary and Death of the Reprobate here, which are based on characters cropped out from historical oil paintings: https://store.steampowered.com/app/50340...st_Things/

(I think I still haven't played the third game from the series).

These games are definitely not for everyone since they make fun of religion, so I hope it is still okay to post this here.

I like those games since they felt like absurd Monty Python humor to me.

I guess I would just have listed games I have played myself so far as examples. But that's now a list for digging through, haha.

That's what I'm doing.

The first games that come to mind are Lume and Lumino city - the objects and the environment are all paper, cardboard and lighting effects. Both adventure games, cute looking but at points quite challenging. The first game gets criticized for a lack of direction - it can be quite difficult to figure out what the game wants the player to do or where to go. In a way it's like a stepping stone for the second game, which is longer and more polished in the gameplay department.

Another game that comes to mind, in a different genre: Clayfighter. It's a fighting game and it's pretty bad.

Slightly off topic here, but I loved Four Last Things and The Procession to Calvary. I wasn’t aware there was a third game, so thanks for mentioning it!

Back on topic: I didn’t look at all of those Mobygames links and this might’ve been one of the linked games, but there is a fairly new claymation game out, The Midnight Walk.

Yep, listed that one.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/241705/th...alk/promo/

I did try to choose only visually stunning examples of course.

I just played Dogwalk. The end credits revealed that a lot of the assets were scanned in from physically crafted paper and cardboard models.

I just checked the list. I learnt pretty late of Neverhood. Wish I could play that.

Harold Halibut is still on my To Play List, but I didn't jump on that one since it was keyboard controlled instead of point & click. Although I saw the game on the amaze games festival so many years ago where it instantly had caught my interest.

I love Dominique Pampelmousse! This game is so unique. Games like that feel a bit like an interactive puppet theater.


There is also "Trüberbrook" which was created with stop motion techniques, I played that a few years ago. It was ok, but I wasn't amazed for some reason.

Papetura looks interesting as well, technically.

And I have to mention Samorost 3 and Machinarium here. Both great examples of loveable handcrafted games, including sounds.

Here are two interesting making ofs about those two games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W3kXEGy_GQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNCartf5Vbk