Stop-motionanimation is one of the most painstaking and time-consuming forms of visual art, often taking hundreds of hours for just a few seconds of footage. In video games, it’s even rarer, since every model, texture and motion must be physically crafted or simulated to achieve that signature handcrafted look.
The result, however can be striking. It brings worlds to life with a tactile charm that digital animation can rarely replicate. These games not only embrace the style but use it in ways that enhance their storytelling, atmosphere and gameplay.
8Derrick the Deathfin
The First and Only Papercraft Underwater Adventure
Release Date
August 15, 2025
Different Tuna
Windows, Mac, Linux, and PlayStation 3
Entirely built from hand-cut paper, Derrick the Deathfin is an arcade-style side-scrolling action game with a mischievous twist. Players control Derrick, a shark on a revenge mission after his parents are turned into shark fin soup. Thepaper-crafted environmentsare vibrant and full of detail, from coral reefs to submerged cities, all photographed and digitized to create the game’s distinct aesthetic.
Its visual style perfectly matches its tone: absurd, colorful and sligtly satirical. The tactile feel of the paper makes every jump and dash seem like it’s unfolding inside a handmade diorama, something rare in a medium dominated by polygons.
7The Dark Eye (1995)
A Morbid Tale Told with Puppets and Clay
Based loosely on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Dark Eye uses claymation and physical puppets to tell a series of unsettling stories. The game casts players into a world of murder, guilt,and psychologicaldecay, with characters whose unblinking faces and stiff, deliberate movements make them feel more like eerie dolls than human beings.
Its visual design was intentionally uncomfortable. The clay models’ imperfections give the world a disturbing realism, enhancing the macabre tone of stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Combined with a haunting voice cast that included William S. Burroughs, it remains one of the most unique uses of stop-motion in gaming.
A Spiritual Successor with a Handmade Touch
Developed by Pencil Test Studios and led by creators of The Neverhood, Armikrog follows space explorer Tommynaut and his blind alien dog, Beak-Beak, after they crash on a strange planet. Every character, prop, and backgrouund was sculpted from clay and photographed frame-by-frame, just like its predecessor.
While its gameplay sticks topoint-and-clickpuzzle solving, the stop-motion visuals give it an identity that stands out even in the indie scene. The handcrafted sets create the sense of exploring a tangible, miniature world, one that feels like you could physically touch it.
5Lumino City
A Real City Built on a Desk
Lumino City
Lumino City was literally constructed from paper, card and miniature lights before being filmed and integrated into the game. This point-and-click puzzle adventure has players guiding Lumi through a sprawling city to find her kidnapped grandfather.
The game’s puzzles often interact naturally with the environment, such as rewiring actual miniature circuits or using moving parts captured through stop-motion. This blend of real-world craftsmanship and clever design gives Lumino City an authenticity that digital art can’t fully match.
4The Neverhood
Claymation’s Cult Classic
The Neverhood
Released in 1996, The Neverhood became famous for its surreal humor, quirky soundtrack and full clay-mation visuals. Every scene was built from actual clay, amounting to over three tons used during production. Players control Klaymen as he explores a strange world filled with cryptic puzzles and bizarre characters.
The game’s art direction is inseparable from its charm. The clay figures wobble and stretch in ways that make the world feel alive, while the hand-sculpted sets have a personality that could never come from computer-generated textures. It’s still considered a landmark in stop motion gaming.
3Once A Tale
A Fairytale World You Can Almost Touch
Once A Tale combines stop-motion animation with fairy tale storytelling to create a whimsical yet slightly eerie atmosphere. The environments look like handcrafted storybook dioramas, with characters that move in the jerky but expressive way only stop-motion can deliver.
Its story follows a young hero navigating forests, castles and dreamlike landscapes, each of which was physically built before being digitized. The tactile quality of the sets enhances the sense of stepping into a children’s book that has sprung to life.
2The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2
Handmade Horror in the Apartment Next Door
The Dream Machine
Built entirely from clay and cardboard, The Dream Machine is a point-and-click adventure about a newlywed couple who move into an apartment building hiding dark secrets. In the first two chapters, players investigate strange dreams and unsettling neighbors uncovering a mystery that blends reality with the surreal.
The stop-motion style reinforces its dreamlike tone. Everything looks both familiar and slightly wrong from the crooked walls to the imperfect textures of clay-sculpted objects. This physicality makes its surreal moments even more striking.
1Harold Halibut
A Handmade Sci-Fi Story at the Bottom of the Ocean
Harold Halibut
Harold Halibut’s development took over a decade, with every model, prop and environment handcrafted and then scanned into the game. Set aboard a submerged city-ship trapped on an alien planet, the game follows Harold, a lab assistant as he navigates the routines of underwater life while uncovering secrets that could change humanity’s fate.
The stop-motion inspired visuals give the underwater setting a sense of weight and depth, as though every wall and pipe has been touched by human hands. The blend of meticulous craftsmanship and cinematic storytelling makes it one of the most ambitious uses of the style in gamin history.
