Weeks ago, I put in key requests for two indie roguelikes: Rogue Rollout and Neon Village. Rogue Rollout was a dice-based Yahtzee-style roguelike inspired by Balatro. The Neon Village demo was a match-three spin on Luck Be A Landlord‘s slot-machine progression. Both keys were granted. However, I realized afterward that both games contained AI-generated art, which I don’t personally support or agree with.
And this forced me into a unintentional dilemma: abandon press obligations I previously agreed to, or try to make something constructive out of an abrupt brush with AI-generated game art? You’re reading this article, so I chose the latter.
Who This Is For (And a Disclaimer)
Related: I Got Whiplash from Playing Mobile Game Ports On My Vacation
Let’s set expectations first: do not mistake my honesty for weakness. I am not a game developer or a lawyer. My opinion is my own, and does not imply full knowledge of the increasingly complicated legal situation around AI or AI-generated images. I don’t endorse them personally or professionally. But as a graphic designer for over a decade, I know my way around creating images and sourcing them.
I want to give detailed feedback on both games’ specific applications of AI-generated art and what they could use instead. I’ll document everything in as much detail as I can muster. Hopefully you’ve already considered the environmental, ethical, and legal impacts of AI-generated image usage, so I won’t cover those at length.
Maybe if smaller developers know all their options, they can try an alternative. Or at least be aware of how their usage of AI-generated art could be perceived by games critics and industry peers.
Rogue Rollout
“How did you find out about Rogue Rollout’s AI-generated art?”
The press page I requested my Rogue Rollout key from and the game’s Steam page didn’t mention it as of this writing. I played through my first run and felt that one aspect of the game didn’t mesh with the overall presentation. Beyond that, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. I kept going.
On my second attempt, I drew an artifact card. Each one has prominent artwork, and Hexagon Holdup’s art was a bee perched on a honeycomb-filled cube in the forest.
But the way the honeycombs stretched across the cube’s surface looked strained. Light green accent lines dotted the trees in the background, but my eyes couldn’t quite parse them. Were they supposed to be other light sources brushing the edges or particles falling from the canopy? It didn’t make sense.
Developer Comments
I opened a browser tab and typed “rogue rollout ai art” into DuckDuckGo. One of the first results was a developer thread about the initial playtest on r/games . Scrolling down confirmed what prior listings had not: some assets in Rogue Rollout were AI-generated by Midjourney. The solo developer described their hesitance to use AI-generated art and how their budgetary options felt limited:
Right now I’m in the feedback gathering stages. If players absolutely hate the current AI generated art and it’s a deal breaker for a sizeable percentage, I would look into replacing it.
Thus far, I haven’t heard too many complaints about it being AI or an issue with the quality. The most common point of feedback was that some of the images don’t fit thematically and should be replaced which I’ve begun to work on.
There’s another comment in the thread here suggesting to pay an artist to touch up the generated images, which sounds like a good compromise between spending a lot for hand drawn art vs rolling with whatever Midjourney spits out.
“Did Rogue Rollout’s AI-generated art impact your opinion?”
I felt that something was off with Rogue Rollout’s visuals immediately, which led me to discover the AI-generated art in the first place. And I was embarrassed that I didn’t consider that possibility, which made me even more hesitant to cover the game at all. If it wasn’t for the developer’s Reddit thread detailing their concerns, I would have abandoned any piece on it immediately.
The Midjourney art in use doesn’t feel cohesive. While I enjoy the puns on the card descriptions and the neon tinged look of the game, the relic cards feel scattershot: a pile of jokes and references that don’t have the underlying structure they need to be fully supported. I think a more directed approach—amateur pixel art, vector assets, photographs—would pull the game together more than the current AI-generated assets.
Graphical realism and specificity isn’t the pinnacle of game art. Luck Be A Landlord’s pixel icons, Slay the Spire’s amusing placeholder cards, and Katamari Damacy’s low-poly models are some of my absolute favorites. Rogue Rollout’s relic card art, in contrast, doesn’t mesh with the rest of the screen. And the nature of AI-generated art means that it never will. There is no style, just an average.
Think about how Balatro’s look affects every part of the game, not just where it’s convenient. The cards are crunchy, but so is the interface and scoring. The background is surreal, but so are the soundtrack and visual effects. Aim for that level of specificity, but keep in mind that it’s you, not a dataset, that can get there. I’ll have image source recommendations further down, so give those a read if you need to. I hope this helps.
Neon Village
“How did you find out about Neon Village’s AI-generated art?”
In a new browser tab, I skimmed Neon Village’s details in the press hub. Nothing about AI-generated art yet. Now fully second guessing myself, I went to Neon Village’s Steam page. A section I hadn’t encountered before was above the game’s system requirements:
AI GENERATED CONTENT DISCLOSURE
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:
AI-generated images are used for some of the background images
Neon Village was Encraft’s first Steam title, and after searching, I couldn’t track down many further details about the team. For the time being, I assumed development team size was relatively small.
The Neon Village demo’s AI-generated art was impossible to miss. It stretched across the title screen, a blend of low-poly mountains and attempts at impressionistic brushstrokes. Every surface had pixelated jaggles at the edges. The game’s logo and icons were clean and sharp, but that background image felt muddy.
“Did the Neon Village demo’s AI-generated art impact your opinion?”
Neon Village’s AI-generated background assets feel like a blemish on an otherwise razor-sharp match three roguelike. Their quality and aesthetic don’t really match anything else in the game. I’d take an empty void or a nice gradient over what’s currently there. If you’re going to put a mild wave effect over a background image, choose a better one.
Beyond that, the Neon Village demo permanently added friction to my game research process. Now that I know there isn’t a standard way to disclose AI-generated image use, future titles will need to be vetted from more sources than usual. It’s another thing that creates distance between the indie games I love and honestly evaluating them, which is a real shame. Consider using one of the image alternatives further down, which could provide something more consistent.
AI-Generated Art’s Wider Effects
For a games industry perspective on AI-generated game art’s wider effects, I talked to Radiant G. He’s not only our site lead, but also acts in numerous game development roles: producer and voice actor for the action RPG Ink Inside, as well as creative director and character artist for upcoming title Himbo Hunter.
“I love making game art,” Radiant said via voice call. “I love making it feel like it belongs in [the game’s] universe. All the decisions I make are very intentional—I want things to feel like they come from the same universe, the same canon.”
“When you use generative AI, you cannot make those same kinds of intentional decisions,” Radiant cautioned. “Generative AI does not just steal from artists and regurgitate the results—it cannot have intent.”
Radiant warned that potential legal consequences of AI-generated effects could impact smaller teams the most. “When more laws are passed protecting people from AI, like the SAG-AFTRA ones in California, Small indie devs are going to be hit the most by this legislation. Bigger companies like Ubisoft can take the hit [financially], but smaller indie devs are going to take the brunt of it. [Gen AI is] going to hurt these small businesses before they even get off the ground.”
“I’m an indie developer without much spare time or budget. What other legal art sources can help me get started?”
Ask An Artist
Talk with artists about other forms of compensation for their work. “If you don’t have enough money to hire an artist up-front, I guarantee that there is an artist willing to do work for something like revenue share instead of up-front pay,” Radiant G said via voice call. “It’s not common, per se, but I have done it. There are always ways to negotiate [before turning to Gen AI].”
Find Non-Restricted Images Through Specialty Searches
Sites like Openverse or Public Domain Review make it easy to find images without restrictions on their use. Each site makes sure to link back to the original source so you can do further research. Even using plain searches like “bee” or “dice” on Openverse gave interesting results, like this bee in a convertible:
Public Domain Review has a more curatorial approach, breaking things down into collections and categories. I found a fascinating series of dice sculptures on mini golf courses, and was able to easily trace them back to Library of Congress.
Photographers John Margolies and Carol M. Highsmith documented these attractions and amusements in detail, adding bits about location and history in their titles. John found dice sculptures in three different US states. Carol photographed a killer bee statue with a surprising backstory. Neither would have surfaced without a proper image search:
Nonrestricted images should feel like an extension of your core ideas. Finding one with purpose and history can help your anchor your game’s vision on something concrete. Let that curiosity guide you, even if it takes a bit more research.
Find Attribution-Friendly Resources through Royalty-Free Image Sites
Still searching for that perfect image? Royalty-free sites, like Pixabay and Pexels, have a more limited selections with a flexible license. Better still, they make it easy to attribute the photo in your game credits with just a few clicks. Properly crediting adds an extra layer of documentation to the assets you use, just in case.
Alter Your Image With Free Browser Tools
Free browser tools can help you modify your chosen picture until it’s just right. Photopea works in most modern browsers and the majority of its features are free to use. Adjustments, layers, and other alterations can help you narrow down the look and feel of your image—and without a monthly subscription.
Show Me What You Can Do
Independent game development is hard, but reviewing one when I can’t get a clear sense of the developer’s skill and vision is harder. AI-generated images may sound convenient to use, but they make smaller titles much harder to assess. And, you know, dampen my overall enjoyment of the game itself. Now that you know what your other options are, go out and make something. I can’t wait to see it!
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