Magic 3 — GB Pixel Art Jam 2026 Submission

It's that time of year again! I love the GB Pixel Art Jam weekends as it is always a fun time to explore creative options and techniques in pursuit of creating something I am proud to put forth amongst the myriad other bespoke submissions. That being said, this is probably the shortest incubation period I've had yet in the jam's history: roughly about three hours fittingly enough. With the simple theme of "Three, 3, III", there were quite a lot of directions I felt could be taken. I do particularly enjoy using unique technique as the foundation for these jams though, and not without reason. Games often necessitate a practical foundation first and foremost (player readability, cohesion across visuals of similar mechanical elements, etc.), which is shaped down further by the Game Boy's limited hardware. So, why not take this as an opportunity to explore those hardware limits when there is no such need to adhere to the practical elements of a game? The day will come where my submission approach is to illustrate a theme in a more traditional sense, one that requires more skill than my current approach frankly, but that day is not here yet! After playing around with the idea of cutting the typically four-based systems of Game Boy visuals down to only three (so, three colors, six by six tiles, things like that), I had the pie-in-the-sky idea of "wouldn't it be cool to get true 3D out of the Game Boy?" Thankfully, that wasn't as lofty of a goal as it seemed! Immediately I thought of magic eye images, or "autostereograms". These are the patterned 2D images that reveal a hidden 3D image when crossing your eyes to view it. Doing some research, it seemed like a somewhat tricky effect to achieve. Thankfully, I eventually found this guide on how to make this illusion solely with MS Paint! And shucks, if 2bitcrook can create their well-crafted pixel art using MS Paint, I figured the outlined technique could be applicable in other pixel art programs (Aesprite in my case). With some trial and a bit more error than I'd care to admit, viola! I was able to make my very first magic eye illusion, on Game Boy no less. And still got to adhere to the "only three colors" idea too :) Admittedly, it is easier to view the illusion on a bright Analogue Pocket compared to an OEM DMG, but it does still work there too (to the chagrin of my straining eyes).I hope you enjoy this fun illusion as you browse the other submissions. I'm excited to see how everyone interprets this theme of three!

ERIC_MACK 2 games· 109 followers· 8 ratings· portfolio 46 View creator →