The second volume of the Gamer’s Atlas: 72 more games, a different angle. This time, the guiding spirits are artists who shaped the imagination of Asia and comic books. Hokusai and Mœbius each received twelve posters, as both drew the elements and alien worlds like no one else. The remaining eight series of six works each cover manga, anime, and illustration from Japan, China, South Korea, and India: from Osamu Tezuka, the father of manga, to Mario Miranda, whose drawings of Goa are known across India.
The posters were created using Codex with a built-in image generator, each in a 4:5 vertical format. Once again, the prompts contain no names, only descriptions of technique, following the same principle as in the recipe for posters in the style of classic masters. The first volume, 100 games in the style of 20 Western masters, can be found here: Gamer’s Atlas.
In all honesty: none of the chosen artists are alive today, but some, like Akira Toriyama and Kim Jung Gi, passed away recently, and their families and studios continue to safeguard their legacy. These posters are a fan tribute, not a commercial product. The game characters belong to their respective publishers.
Katsushika Hokusai: Twelve Views of the Element
Japan, 1760-1849. In Hokusai’s woodblock print, the Kirifuri waterfall branches out like tree roots. I translate that same attention to the direction of lines onto tire tracks, taut ropes, and wakes in the water.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - “Baton on the High Seas”. Link raises the baton in his red boat. The shifting wind registers first in the sail, then in the lines traced across the water.Download full resolutionDredge - “Late Return”. The fisherman already has the harbor in sight. Between the trawler and the lighthouse beam, a dark ridge rises, easily mistaken for an island.Download full resolutionABZÛ - “Beneath the Manta’s Belly”. A diver glides beneath a manta ray. The pale underside of its wing momentarily replaces the entire sky.Download full resolutionFirewatch - “Signal Past the Ridge”. From the window of his lookout tower, Henry searches for smoke rising above the forest. The weight of the scene rests on a single thin wisp drifting beyond the mountain ridge.Download full resolutionA Short Hike - “Shortcut from the Peak”. Claire spreads her wings above the trail leading up Hawk Peak. Seen from above, the entire grueling climb shrinks into a single zigzag.Download full resolutionSnowRunner - “Anchor in the Forest”. The winch cable tethers the truck to a lone tree. The straight pull of the taut cable cuts through all the meandering ruts.Download full resolutionSea of Thieves - “Scrap of Canvas”. The pirates haul on the line as a squall drives the sail flat on its side. From the deck, all that can be seen is a sliver of island framed beneath the belly of the canvas.Download full resolutionWave Race 64 - “The Outer Buoy”. A racer banks his watercraft hard into the turn. A tilted buoy and a wedge of white foam mark the two sides of the very same gate.Download full resolutionFlower - “Wake of a Gust”. A handful of petals drifts above the grass. Their trail shows where the player passed just a heartbeat ago.Download full resolutionJusant - “The Height of a Single Piton”. High on a sheer cliff face, a climber rests beneath a protection anchor. The slack of the rope reveals true vertical far better than any horizon.Download full resolutionFAR: Lone Sails - “Wind in the Boiler”. The vessel crosses a dry seabed beneath an enormous sail. Behind it linger parallel wheel tracks and a short plume of steam.Download full resolutionThe Long Dark - “Beneath the Green Sky”. A solitary wanderer crosses a frozen lake. Between him and a distant cabin remains one last patch of light.Download full resolution
France, 1938-2012. In Mœbius’s work, a fantastic world can be explored along the trail of a nib, from the edge of a rock to a scratch in a hull’s plating. In these posters, every expedition begins with a single detail like that.
Outer Wilds - “Sand Between Worlds”. An astronaut watches sand stream from one twin globe to the other. In this hourglass, we can step inside ourselves.Download full resolutionNo Man’s Sky - “The Last Specimen”. An explorer kneels beside an alien plant. Behind him rises a ringed planet, yet his gaze rests on a pink spiral hovering just off the ground.Download full resolutionHomeworld - “Along the Flank”. The running lights of several service ships drift across the hull of the vertical mothership. Only beside these tiny specks does its sheer scale become clear.Download full resolutionSable - “Just Above the Sand”. Sable lifts her glider off the desert floor. Between the machine and its shadow, a sliver of daylight already shows.Download full resolutionStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - “The Pad on Tatooine”. In the shadow of the Ebon Hawk, the astromech T3-M4 rolls down the ramp. The hull splits the landing pad’s sweltering heat into two distinct temperatures.Download full resolutionElite Dangerous - “Beyond the Station’s Slot”. A pilot aligns his ship with the narrow mail-slot axis of an orbital station. From this distance, the gargantuan docking bay looks like a mere slit of light.Download full resolutionStarCraft - “Blue Shift”. An SCV cuts through an azure crystal. The chips of fractured mineral are the brightest things on this entire shift.Download full resolutionDead Space - “The Last Handhold”. Isaac drifts beside the Ishimura’s outer hull. Against the infinite void of space, a scrap of railing becomes the most crucial line in the frame.Download full resolutionSystem Shock 2 - “Premonition in the Cables”. In an empty corridor aboard the Von Braun, cables converge around a terminal. The green glow gives away SHODAN’s presence before a single word is spoken.Download full resolutionThe Dig - “Five Spires”. An astronaut pauses at the water’s edge across from stone spires. The empty space between the islands is the very first piece of the puzzle.Download full resolutionFTL: Faster Than Light - “Path to the Airlock”. The crew seals the blast doors to cut the fire off from the rest of the ship. A row of small hatches turns into a chessboard for one brutal decision.Download full resolutionAstroneer - “Lifeline”. An astronaut plants another oxygen tether. A slender blue line leads the way back home across a landscape without a single landmark.Download full resolution
Japan, 1928-1989. In Tezuka’s manga, even a robot can reveal its intent with a single glance. In these six works, the punchline is carried by a gesture caught right between a leap and a fall.
Mega Man 2 - “Half a Step Ahead of the Blade”. In Metal Man’s corridor, the saw sets its own relentless rhythm. Mega Man has to time his step to land precisely between the spinning teeth.Download full resolutionRocket Knight Adventures - “Venting Steam”. Sparkster accelerates along the catwalk. His rocket pack turns a knight’s charge into an attempt at flight.Download full resolutionRistar - “Arm’s Reach”. Ristar grabs a branch and hangs over the abyss. The path forward reaches only as far as his arms can stretch.Download full resolutionBionic Commando - “In Place of a Jump”. The metal grappling hook catches a beam. Only the tension of the cable allows our hero to lift his heavy boots off the ground.Download full resolutionTomba! - “No Escape”. A wild mop of pink hair pokes out of the grass. The pig only lifts its head once the boy is already mid-air.Download full resolutionCave Story - “A Brief Respite”. Quote sits beside a white Mimiga. In a cavern packed with armed machines, he found someone in whose company he can set his weapon down.Download full resolution
Japan, 1963-2010. Kon’s films seamlessly transition the protagonist between reality and imagination. In these posters, a similar role is played by a reflection, the edge of a sheet of paper, and the frame of a screen.
Alan Wake - “Margin of the Lake”. Alan holds a manuscript page over the water. Along its edge, the forest is only just beginning to take the shape of a story.Download full resolutionThe Stanley Parable - “Doors Have a Voice”. Stanley stands before a pair of office doors. Space divides before the employee even manages to set foot on either side.Download full resolutionGhost Trick: Phantom Detective - “One Lamp Later”. A desk lamp tilts over the crime scene. In this story, a person’s fate can turn on the movement of an object no one even noticed.Download full resolutionSuperliminal - “Cube in the Doorway”. Held close to the eye, the cube blocks the passage. Lower your hand, and you realize an object’s size depended entirely on your perspective.Download full resolutionHer Story - “Two Sides of Glass”. The woman’s face on the old tape is frozen between answers. Reflected on the monitor’s glass is the empty chair on the other side of the interrogation room.Download full resolutionCatherine - “Waking Edge”. Vincent scrambles onto another block. The pillow tucked under his arm is the last link tying this climb to his bed.Download full resolution
Japan, 1922-2015. Mizuki placed yōkai in familiar, everyday settings. Here, the weight of the scene rests on a doorstep, a school desk, or an empty intersection.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly - “Butterfly in the Viewfinder”. Against the dark buildings, the crimson butterfly is hard to miss. What stands beside it can only be seen through the camera lens.Download full resolutionSiren - “Hanuda Rain”. Red rain blurs the outlines of the village. Inside the abandoned house, someone is looking out the window, even though no light gives it away.Download full resolutionKuon - “Under the Silk”. In an old mansion, a silk cocoon hangs just above the floor. A single footprint beside it is all it takes for it to stop looking like abandoned fabric.Download full resolutionDetention - “An Empty Seat in Class”. The desks stand as they always have. Only a bowl of rice with incense on one of the desktops reveals that the classroom has become a place of remembrance.Download full resolutionDarkwood - “Night Shift”. The generator keeps a faint light alive in the hideout. Beyond the boarded-up window, the branches press closer and closer.Download full resolutionYomawari: Night Alone - “Pebble on the Tarmac”. The little girl holds her flashlight low against the asphalt. A small stone by the curb might distract something far larger, if only for a second.Download full resolution
Japan, 1955-2024. Toriyama designed characters for Dragon Quest. In this series, I borrowed his fondness for mechanics and comedy. Here, the travelers’ nature is told as much by bolts, luggage, and muddy boots.
Chrono Trigger - “Frog by the Bolt”. Frog looks under Robo’s loosened plating. In this party, a sword and a screwdriver come in handy in equal measure.Download full resolutionDragon Quest VIII - “Royal Carriage Stop”. The traveler in the yellow tunic pauses by the wagon. The cursed King Trode looks like someone eager to cut the break short.Download full resolutionSkies of Arcadia - “Beneath the Cloud Deck”. Vyse leans over the side of the airship. Rigging above his head, a second sky beneath his boots.Download full resolutionGolden Sun - “Hands Over Stone”. Isaac suspends a boulder in mid-air. A small earth Djinn peers underneath, as if checking whether the magic is genuinely working.Download full resolutionEarthBound - “Bicycle in Onett”. Ness takes a baseball bat along on his bike, joined around the corner by a dog. On a quiet street in Onett, a simple ride feels like the start of an epic quest.Download full resolutionGrandia - “Measure of the Wall”. Justin and Sue stand at the base of the End of the World. The first handhold is still within reach; the ones after are nowhere in sight.Download full resolution
China, 1898-1975. China. For Feng Zikai, an everyday action was often enough to serve as the entire subject of a drawing. In these posters, a single gesture and the empty space on paper reveal a similar moment in gaming.
Unpacking - “A Place for the Mug”. One mug and one empty space remain on the kitchen counter. Unpacking is only truly done once you decide where to set it down.Download full resolutionHarvest Moon: Back to Nature - “The Last Bed”. The young farmer tilts his watering can over the final crop. The pup stares at the water, as if waiting for his turn next.Download full resolutionNintendogs - “Slack Leash”. The pup sits down midway through the walk. The loose loop in the leash makes it clear who really chose to take a break.Download full resolutionThe Longing - “Reading Time”. The Shade sits with a book in his underground chamber. The pages and the dripstone above mark out two very different lengths of time.Download full resolutionChibi-Robo! - “To the Outlet”. The tiny robot drags a heavy power plug behind him. From down on the hardwood floor, a wall socket looks like the front doors of a building.Download full resolutionCoffee Talk - “A Rosette for the Night Guest”. The barista finishes off a milk rosette. The patron waits across the counter, and for that brief moment, the whole conversation fits inside a single cup.Download full resolution
South Korea, 1975-2022. South Korea. Kim Jung Gi drew intricate scenes and vehicles entirely from memory. Here, the perspective leads from a piece of machinery right in front of your eyes to the people who have to operate it.
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - “By the Fence”. The wire cutters pull the fence taut just as the guard turns his head. The entire squad is waiting on this single flick of the wrist.Download full resolutionGran Turismo 4 - “Apex at Tyre Height”. The front tyre clips the edge of the kerb. Track position now comes down to the width of a hand.Download full resolutionX-COM: UFO Defense - “Open Ramp”. The dropship ramp lowers onto the edge of the field. The hardest step is stepping out from the hull’s cover into the dark, which flashlights uncover only piece by piece.Download full resolutionTitanfall 2 - “In the Titan’s Palm”. BT’s open hand serves as a walkway for the pilot. It is only beside the machine’s fingers that the scale of their shared leap becomes clear.Download full resolutionAce Combat 04: Shattered Skies - “Shadow Over the Cannons”. The fighter’s wing dominates half the frame. Only the sight of the Stonehenge railguns below reveals just how close this bank brings it to their line of fire.Download full resolutionAdvance Wars - “One Square Away”. A bridge links two edges of the map. A tank holds the front, but the next move relies entirely on the small APC idling behind it.Download full resolution
India, 1926-2011. India. Mario Miranda’s drawings break street life down into dozens of tiny behaviours. In this series, the punchline is delivered by the reaction of a neighbour, a passenger, or someone stuck in line.
Theme Hospital - “A Head Too Wide”. A patient with Bloaty Head waits outside the GP’s office. Everyone in the queue has their own idea of how to squeeze him through the door.Download full resolutionSimCity 2000 - “Power Around the Corner”. Every window is lit at one end of the street. At the other, residents lean out of darkened houses, staring up at the utility pole.Download full resolutionRollerCoaster Tycoon - “Who Lost Their Hat?”. A hat flies off the coaster car. People in the queue track it with their eyes, while its owner is already disappearing around the next bend.Download full resolutionCrazy Taxi - “Just One More Shortcut”. A yellow cab clears the crest of a steep street. The driver takes a shortcut while the passenger desperately tries to keep their shopping on their lap.Download full resolutionOvercooked! - “Pass the Onion”. A gap between counters separates two chefs. An onion sails through the air while dinner creeps dangerously close to burning.Download full resolutionTropico - “Below the Balcony”. El Presidente waves to the crowd from his balcony. Down at street level, a cart stuck in the palace gates causes far more of a stir.Download full resolution
Utagawa Kuniyoshi: A Split Second Before the Strike
Japan, 1797-1861. Japan. Kuniyoshi earned his fame with woodblock prints of legendary warriors. Here, the upper hand in combat is told through a taut diagonal line and the direction in which fabric billows.
Nioh - “Guard in the Smoke”. William plants his foot right at the edge of the smoke. An enemy emerges from the darkness, his sheer scale first given away by his hand.Download full resolutionSoulcalibur - “Edge of the Ring”. Ivy unravels her sword into an arc of steel. The true boundary of the duel suddenly becomes the empty void at the fighter’s back.Download full resolutionDynasty Warriors 3 - “Wave Beneath the Halberd”. Lu Bu swings his heavy weapon above the heads of the infantry. Bending battle flags reveal the direction of the charge long before the soldiers’ faces do.Download full resolutionThe Last Blade 2 - “A Leaf Between Blades”. Two swordsmen freeze opposite each other. A leaf carried on the breeze cuts momentarily through the open space between their edges.Download full resolutionGolden Axe - “A Step Behind the Giant”. A dwarf with a battleaxe ducks inside the reach of a towering foe. The low angle makes you feel just how much ground the blade has to travel to reach the giant.Download full resolutionBushido Blade - “Bamboo Counts the Paces”. Two duelists listen closely in a bamboo grove. The spacing of the stalks reveals the exact distance needed for a single killing blow.Download full resolution
The strongest series turned out to be the ones where the art style drives the storytelling, not just the linework. With Satoshi Kon, a character steps through the edge of the frame; with Mizuki, a yōkai sits casually on an ordinary doorstep; with Feng Zikai, a single mug on an empty shelf in Unpacking is all it takes. That last poster is the most powerful piece in the entire collection for me, because it does not feature a single character, yet anyone who has played the game instantly knows what it means.
Hokusai and Mœbius across twelve pieces prove something else: a truly great style does not wear thin after the fifth artwork. The Wind Waker rendered as a woodblock print and Outer Wilds in Mœbius’s signature line could easily serve as official posters for those games.
I edit and publish Quantslant. AI tools help with research, drafts and translation; choosing topics, running the tests, checking facts and the decision to publish are mine, and so is the responsibility for what appears here.
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