Hero Academy 2 – Intricate Character Art for a CCG

We have just finished working on a 150-card deck for Hero Academy 2 and would like to share the beautiful images with you. Hero Academy 2 is a card collectible and strategy game by BonusXP and Robot Entertainment. The RetroStyle Games artists have created intricate 2D illustrations for this project. Each card features a member of one of the 12 fantasy races developed in collaboration with the client.

Characters are one of the biggest components of game success. The players must genuinely like the characters to choose the game in the first place, and to continue playing it when the novelty wears off (but the addictive algorithms kick in).

Our artists started out by collecting references and developing several groups of characters: they have to look fresh and interesting for the modern storytelling geeks and experienced players. We fused humans, animals, plants, machines, and spirits to create new fantasy races.

In the deck, you can find ruthless cyborgs, ferocious Aztec gods, enraged Ancient Rome fighters, and furious winter-is-comings. On a more sinister side, we’ve got the chilling Undead, the members of an inclusive and diverse pirate ship crew (who cares if you are an octopus if you can shoot!), and direful pixie fairies. All in all, we have made sure the players would not get bored! RetroStyle Games artists know how to let their imagination run wild and turn it into highly-detailed and stylistically unified artwork.

RetroStyle Games has extensive experience in 2D character art, and our clients can outsource the whole process of character creation. Sometimes, we are asked to realize the client’s vision, sometimes — to come up with our own. After the core images have been drawn, our artists can quickly expand, making one card in 1-2 days. For Storm Wars, a similar CCG, we made an epic set of 350+ cards with unique characters.

2D and 3D character development is the specialty of RetroStyle Games. In our portfolio, you can check our artwork for many popular games in various genres. Get in touch if you would like our artists to help you with concept art, character art, or animation for your project.