2D games
2D games in Unity cover sprites, tilemaps, 2D lighting, physics and animation. This section includes pixel-perfect setups, platformer and top-down controllers and the 2D renderer. A good starting point for smaller scoped projects. 45 hand-picked Unity guides, tutorials, videos and repos, kept current.
- How Moonlight Kids built time-loop metroidbrainia Echo Weaver in Unity 6
Chunk streaming, loop-reset architecture and 2D optimization tips from a time-loop Unity 6 game.
unity.com · Oct 2026 - Breaking down Moon Reader's 2.5D pixel art style in Unity
How a 2.5D pixel art look was made in Unity, simpler than it appears.
jettelly.com · Jul 2026 - Create an Asteroids Game - Full Unity Tutorial for Beginners
Full beginner tutorial for making an Asteroids game in Unity.
youtube.com · Jun 2026 - Unity 2D Crash Course - Making A Complete Asteroids Game
Unity 2D crash course building a complete Asteroids game.
youtube.com · Mar 2026 - How to make a 2D game: art, animation, and lighting for artists (Unity 6.3 LTS edition)
Unity 6.3 LTS guide to 2D: project setup, sprite workflows, tilemaps, animation and lighting.
unity.com · Feb 2026 - Tips on Editor workflows, debugging, and 2D best practices in Unity 6
Unity 6 Editor workflow, debugging and 2D tips for saving time throughout development.
unity.com · Jul 2025 - Hue-shifting colours for nicer shadows
Colour tip: darken shadows by shifting hue as well as brightness to avoid muddy tones.
bsky.app · Jun 2025 - Find a treasure trove of lighting and visual effects in our new match-3 sample Gem Hunter Match
Match-3 sample showing how URP lighting and visual effects make a 2D puzzle game stand out.
unity.com · Apr 2024 - Local UVs for Sprites in Sprite Sheet/Atlas
Converts sprite sheet or atlas UVs into local 0-1 UVs for per-sprite effects.
cyanilux.com · Mar 2024 - Unity - Manual: Create 2D lit shader with Shader Graph
Unity manual page on making a 2D-lit shader with Shader Graph in URP.
docs.unity3d.com · ~Oct 2023 - Unity - Manual: Configure a 2D light
Unity manual page on configuring 2D lights in URP.
docs.unity3d.com · ~Oct 2023 - How to Make a Good 2D Camera
Covers 2D camera techniques like deadzones, look-ahead, smoothing and framing for platformers.
youtube.com · Sep 2023 - Shockwave in Unity - How to make a shockWave Shader (2D Renderer | Unity Tutorial)
Makes a shockwave shader for the 2D renderer in Unity.
youtube.com · ~Mar 2023 - How do I make a shader that will work with Unity 2D Lights? - Questions & Answers - Unity Discussions
Forum answer on adapting a sprite shader to work with Unity 2D lights.
discussions.unity.com · Jan 2023 - Is GPU Overdraw Worse in 2D Games?
Discusses whether GPU overdraw is worse in 2D games, from a reader question.
thegamedev.guru · Aug 2022 - Melee attacks and AI combat mechanic in 2D games - Pav Creations
Explains building melee attacks and AI combat in 2D Unity games.
pavcreations.com · Aug 2022 - Tails of Iron: How Odd Bug used 2D lights to create mood | Unite Now 2020
How Odd Bug used 2D lights for mood in Tails of Iron.
youtube.com · ~Nov 2020 - Art Design Deep Dive: Dynamic 2D Lighting
Deep dive on art design for dynamic 2D lighting.
gamasutra.com · Sep 2020 - Optimize performance of 2D games with Unity Tilemap
Unity guide to optimizing 2D game performance with Tilemap.
unity.com · ~Aug 2020 - Lost Crypt - 2D Sample Project | Tutorial Projects | Unity Asset Store
Asset Store 2D sample project Lost Crypt from Unity Technologies.
assetstore.unity.com · ~Apr 2020 - The Shader Approach to Billboarding
Explains the shader approach to billboarding used for the 2.5D look of Songs of Syx.
80.lv · Sep 2019 - 2D SDF Shadows
Builds 2D shadows using combined signed distance functions.
ronja-tutorials.com · Dec 2018 - 2D SDF Space Manipulation
Manipulates space for 2D signed distance function shapes.
ronja-tutorials.com · Nov 2018 - 2D SDF Combination
Combines 2D signed distance function shapes.
ronja-tutorials.com · Nov 2018 - 2D Signed Distance Field Basics
Basics of drawing shapes with 2D signed distance fields instead of meshes.
ronja-tutorials.com · Nov 2018 - Graveyard Keeper: How the graphics effects are made
Summary of tips and tricks behind the graphical effects in Graveyard Keeper.
gamedeveloper.com · Oct 2018 - The Transformation Matrix for 2D Games
Introduces the transformation matrix for translating, rotating and scaling 2D graphics.
alanzucconi.com · Feb 2016 - A Gentle Primer on 2D Rotations
Primer on 2D rotations for game developers.
alanzucconi.com · Feb 2016 - Practical trigonometry for 2D games
Practical trigonometry for 2D games (members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2015 - Don’t starve, Diablo – Parallax 7
Looks at parallax layers in Don't Starve and Diablo.
simonschreibt.de · Feb 2014 - Dynamic 2D Character Lighting
Covers dynamic 2D character lighting to improve visual quality.
p1xelcoder.com · Dec 2013 - Binding of Isaac – Composition
Analyzes the visual composition and readability tricks used in The Binding of Isaac.
simonschreibt.de · Jul 2013 - Cel Shading
Compares ways of up-scaling a sprite for cel shading and why naive scaling falls short.
simonschreibt.de · Jan 2013 - Divine Divinity – 2D Reflexion
Explains the 2D reflection effect in Divine Divinity, a rare reflection in a 2D game.
simonschreibt.de · Jan 2013 - Shaders Case Study - Dead Cells' Character Art Pipeline
Case study on the character art pipeline used in Dead Cells.
youtube.com - PowerQuest by Powerhoof
Itch.io toolkit for making 2D adventure games in Unity.
powerhoof.itch.io - How to use 2D lights to set mood | 2D game design | Unity
Case study on using 2D lights to set mood in the game Tails of Iron.
unity.com - Enhance a top-down game with URP 2D lights | Unity at GDC 2023
GDC video on enhancing a top-down game with URP 2D lights.
youtube.com - Art Design Deep Dive: Dynamic 2D lighting in Dwerve
Explains adding dynamic 2D lighting to the 2D Unity game Dwerve.
gamedeveloper.com - 2D Water Shader Breakdown
Breakdown of a 2D water shader with pixelated highlights, distortion, reflections and shoreline ripples.
cyanilux.com - 2D Tech Art Chronicles: Lerp — Joyrok
Explains lerp-based image layering in a material for 2D tech art.
joyrok.com - 2D Tech Art Chronicles: Gradient Mapping — Joyrok
Explains gradient mapping with an atlas texture in Unreal for 2D tech art.
joyrok.com - 2D Light and Shadow Techniques in URP | Unity
Explains how lights and shadows were built in URP for the Happy Harvest 2D demo.
unity.com - 2D GLOW & Bloom Effect in Unity
Adds 2D glow and bloom effects in Unity.
youtube.com - Kenney's free game assets
Large library of free CC0 2D, 3D, UI and audio assets for prototyping games.
kenney.nl