5 Underrated Tools for Better Game UI You Should Try

5 Underrated Tools for Better Game UI You Should Try

Great game mechanics are the heart of any compelling experience. Yet, often, their brilliance remains undiscovered, buried under a confusing or unappealing user interface. I learned this the hard way during a critical development sprint for “ChronoForge,” a time-bending puzzle platformer. Our core mechanic, temporal echoes, was innovative, allowing players to record actions and replay them simultaneously. Testers, however, consistently got stuck or expressed frustration, not with the puzzles, but with managing their echo timeline. “I don’t know what’s happening,” or “Where do I even click?” were common refrains. It was a wake-up call. We had poured countless hours into intricate mechanics, only to have them undermined by a UI that actively pushed players away. Fixing it felt like rebuilding the engine mid-flight, but addressing those UI pain points was the single most impactful change we made. Player retention skyrocketed, and suddenly, everyone was raving about the very mechanics they previously couldn’t grasp. This experience solidified my belief: bad UI kills promising mechanics before players even see them.

Top Mistakes to Avoid in UI Design

Many indie developers, often working with limited resources, fall into common UI traps. Overwhelming players with too much information at once is a frequent pitfall. Inconsistent design elements, like varying button styles or text fonts, create cognitive dissonance. Ignoring user feedback during early testing phases is a critical error; your perspective is not always the player’s. Finally, poor accessibility, neglecting color blindness or scalable text, alienates a significant portion of your potential audience. These mistakes don’t just make your game look amateurish; they directly impact player engagement, hindering their ability to discover and appreciate your core mechanics.

The 5 Underrated UI Tools

Here are five underrated tools that can significantly elevate your game UI, even on a shoestring budget.

1. Figma: Collaborative Prototyping Powerhouse

Figma is a browser-based UI/UX design tool that excels in collaborative prototyping. It’s “underrated” in game dev because many assume dedicated game engines are sufficient for UI.

Key Benefit for Indie Devs: Figma allows multiple team members (or just yourself on different devices) to work on the same UI mockups simultaneously. This drastically speeds up iteration and feedback loops, crucial for small teams.

Practical Application (Step-by-Step):

1. Create a new Figma file for your game’s main menu.
2. Design a simple button using basic shapes and text.
3. Duplicate this button and change its text to represent “New Game,” “Options,” and “Exit.”
4. Use Figma’s prototyping mode to link the “New Game” button to a new “Gameplay HUD” frame.
5. Share the prototype link with testers for immediate feedback on flow.

Avoid This Mistake: Do not skip the prototyping phase. Figma helps you visualize UI flow and gather early feedback, preventing costly reworks later in development.

2. Coolors.co: Instant Color Palette Generator

Coolors.co is a fast color scheme generator that quickly creates harmonious color palettes. It’s “underrated” because color theory often feels intimidating, leading devs to pick colors arbitrarily.

Key Benefit for Indie Devs: It simplifies the complex task of color selection, ensuring your UI has a consistent and appealing aesthetic without deep color theory knowledge.

Practical Application (Step-by-Step):

1. Go to Coolors.co and press the spacebar to generate random palettes.
2. Lock colors you like by clicking the lock icon.
3. Adjust individual hues, saturation, and brightness for fine-tuning.
4. Export your chosen palette’s HEX codes for direct use in your game engine.
5. Use this palette for all UI elements: buttons, text, backgrounds.

Avoid This Mistake: Inconsistent color schemes make your UI look chaotic and unprofessional. Coolors.co helps you maintain visual harmony across all screens.

3. Font Squirrel: Curated Free Commercial Fonts

Font Squirrel offers a vast collection of high-quality, free fonts specifically licensed for commercial use. It’s “underrated” because many developers overlook typography’s impact or use generic, overused fonts.

Key Benefit for Indie Devs: It provides access to professional-looking fonts that enhance readability and establish a unique aesthetic without licensing fees.

Practical Application (Step-by-Step):

1. Browse Font Squirrel’s extensive library, filtering by style (e.g., “pixel,” “display,” “sans-serif”).
2. Download a few fonts that match your game’s theme and readability needs.
3. Install them on your system or import them directly into your game engine.
4. Experiment with different fonts for headings, body text, and interactive elements.
5. Ensure your chosen font is readable at various sizes.

Avoid This Mistake: Using illegible or uninspired fonts diminishes user experience. Font Squirrel ensures you pick fonts that are both appealing and functional.

4. Logicly: Flowcharting for UI Logic

Logicly is a simple, intuitive flowcharting tool. It’s “underrated” because UI logic often gets hardcoded or is left to implicit understanding rather than being explicitly mapped out.

Key Benefit for Indie Devs: It helps visualize the intricate flow of UI states and user interactions, preventing broken or confusing navigation paths before coding.

Practical Application (Step-by-Step):

1. Open Logicly and start with a “Start” node for your main menu.
2. Add nodes for each UI screen (e.g., “Options Menu,” “Inventory Screen”).
3. Use arrows to represent button presses or navigation actions between screens.
4. Add decision nodes for conditional UI states (e.g., “Is player alive?”).
5. Review the flowchart to identify any dead ends or illogical loops in your UI flow.

Avoid This Mistake: haphazard UI logic leads to frustrating player experiences. Logicly forces you to think through every possible interaction path, preventing broken navigation.

5. OpenGameArt.org: Free UI Asset Repository

OpenGameArt.org is a treasure trove of free-to-use game assets, including UI elements like icons, buttons, and backgrounds. It’s “underrated” because developers often spend too much time creating every UI asset from scratch.

Key Benefit for Indie Devs: It provides a readily available supply of high-quality assets, saving precious development time and allowing you to focus on core mechanics.

Practical Application (Step-by-Step):

1. Search OpenGameArt.org for specific UI elements, like “health bar icon” or “settings button.”
2. Filter by license type (e.g., CC0, OGA-BY) to ensure compatibility with your project.
3. Download a few options and test them in your UI mockup.
4. Resize and recolor assets in an image editor if necessary to match your game’s style.
5. Remember to credit artists if required by the license.

Avoid This Mistake: Reinventing the wheel for every UI element wastes valuable time. Leverage existing high-quality assets to accelerate your UI development.

Integrating Feedback & Iteration

Even with these tools, your UI won’t be perfect on the first try. Testing UI early and often is paramount. Start with friends, then expand to a broader audience. Observe where players hesitate, misclick, or express confusion. Record their exact words and actions. This structured documentation of feedback is invaluable. Reflect on these tests, using your notes to understand why players struggled. Were the buttons too small? Was the navigation unclear? Did the chosen font make text hard to read?

The Power of Documentation for UI Improvements

Keeping detailed notes about your UI design choices, the challenges you faced, and user feedback can drastically improve your UI iteration process. As you’re experimenting with these new UI tools and techniques, it’s crucial to document your process, challenges, and user feedback. This systematic approach not only helps you track game development progress but also provides a clear roadmap for future improvements. A well-maintained game dev journal becomes your single source of truth for all UI decisions, making it easier to stay consistent and learn from past mistakes. You can organize your creative process, track game development progress, and keep a consistent game development log that serves as a living document of your UI evolution. To streamline this process and ensure you don’t miss a beat, consider using a dedicated journaling tool. It’s the perfect way to track your UI iterations and keep a comprehensive game dev journal. Start your game development log today and unlock the full potential of your game’s UI.

Good UI is not just about aesthetics; it’s about clarity, usability, and ultimately, player retention. By leveraging these underrated tools and embracing a continuous feedback loop, you can ensure your game’s mechanics shine through, rather than being overshadowed by a confusing interface.