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Team Cherry made Hollow Knight’s art by drawing it by hand, creating traditional 2D animation, and bringing the digital artwork into a game built with Unity. Photoshop is the documented art software; the sources describe PNG assets and scanned sketches, but do not identify the drawing hardware or every production setting.
What was Team Cherry’s art workflow?
The clearest account is a hand-drawn-to-digital process. Team Cherry describes Hollow Knight’s caverns and creatures as brought to life with hand-drawn art and traditional 2D animation on its official game site. Unity’s case study says the art and animation were made in Photoshop, saved as PNGs, and used in a game built with Unity.
- Draw: Team Cherry’s FAQ states, “All the art assets from our games, including animations, were drawn in Photoshop.” That is the studio’s description of its games’ art assets; it does not specify Photoshop settings or hardware. Team Cherry FAQ
- Animate: The game uses traditional 2D animation. Nintendo’s interview specifically characterizes the cast’s movement as traditional frame-by-frame animation. Nintendo interview
- Prepare assets for the game: Unity’s account describes the artwork and animation as Photoshop files saved as PNGs, then brought into the Unity project. It also notes the use of Unity’s built-in development tools and Asset Store extensions.
What did Photoshop and Unity each do?
Photoshop was the named tool for drawing the art, including animation assets. Unity was the game engine in which those assets were used. In Unity’s account, PNG is the image format for the exported artwork and animation; it is not evidence of the team’s full internal file-management or import process.
Game Informer’s retrospective adds that Ari Gibson’s hand-drawn sketches were scanned directly into the game engine. That supports a sketch-to-digital step, but does not establish which scanner or other equipment was used. Game Informer retrospective
#1 Best Overall
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
- Leap into minds with the Dream Nail. Uncover a whole other side to the characters you meet and the enemies you face.
What is not documented about the art process?
The cited accounts do not name a drawing tablet, stylus, scanner model, image resolution, export settings, animation frame rate, or a complete asset pipeline. They also do not provide asset counts, frame counts, production time, or labor figures. The grounded description is therefore limited to hand-drawn art, Photoshop, traditional 2D animation, PNG assets, scanned sketches, and integration into Unity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the art support the game’s world?
Hand-drawn environments and creatures give the game a coherent visual foundation, while the traditional animation approach gives its characters movement frame by frame. Game Informer also discusses the map-design challenge in terms of suggesting enough to orient players without overwhelming them. This is useful context for how visual information serves exploration, but it is not a technical account of a particular mapping or drawing tool.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
![HOLLOW KNIGHT [E10]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gHoLA9kNL._SL160_.jpg)
- Includes four giant bonus content packs: Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all modern trimmings
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash, and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries
- Explore a vast interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds, and ruined cities
- Forge your own path. The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face, and find your own way forward
Rank #3
![Hollow Knight: Silksong Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mOgOC8xEL._SL160_.jpg)
- Discover the fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom! Explore mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world.
- Engage in lethal acrobatic action! Wield a huge suite of deadly moves as you dance between foes in swift, beautiful combat.
- Craft powerful tools! Master an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms to vanquish your enemies and explore new heights.
- Solve shocking quests! Hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries to grant the wishes of the downtrodden and restore the kingdom’s hope.
- Face over 200 ferocious foes! Beasts and hunters, monsters and knights. Defeat them all with bravery and skill!
Rank #2
![Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nXCF+sf5L._SL160_.jpg)
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!
- Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favorites and make your journey unique!
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
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