glunty academy
glunty // Leonardo lessons
Make your own game sprite
Design a game character or item, control its style, view, and colors, then generate real sprite art you could actually drop into a game.
takes 8 seconds
Save your work, or lose it.
You can use everything without an account. Sign in to keep your progress on any device and post what you make to the class wall.
You are signing in to glunty.com. A Google or email window opens for a second, then brings you right back here.
- Finish the step above first01
Dream up your game world
Every game lives somewhere. A dark cave? A candy planet? A rainy city where it never stops raining?
You do not need the whole game today. You just need the world your art will live in.
Type one short line: where does your game happen?
- Finish the step above first02
Pick ONE thing to make
Game art gets built one piece at a time. Each piece is called a sprite - a single image like a hero, a coin, or a sword.
Pick just ONE to make today: a character OR an item. One is plenty.
Type what your sprite is.
- Finish the step above first03
Name it
A name makes it real. It stops being 'a character' and becomes someone.
Short and fun beats long and fancy.
Type a name for your sprite.
- Finish the step above first04
Give it a personality
Art feels alive when it shows who or what something is.
Is your character brave, sleepy, or sneaky? Is your item magic, rusty, or glowing?
Type 2 to 4 words that describe it.
- Finish the step above first05
Choose the camera view
'View' means where the camera sits. It totally changes how a sprite looks.
Side view is for side-scrollers like Mario. Top-down looks straight down like old Zelda. Front view stares right back at you.
Type the view you want.
- Finish the step above first06
Pick your art style
Style is the LOOK. Pixel art is blocky and retro. Chibi is cute with a big head. Hand-drawn looks like a storybook.
There is no wrong pick. Choose the one that feels like your game.
Type your art style.
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Choose your colors
A palette is your set of colors. Picking colors on purpose makes art look designed, not random.
Name 2 to 4 colors that go together. Pros keep the list small.
Type your palette.
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Add your secret ingredient
This is where it becomes YOURS. Add one tiny detail nobody else would think of.
A glowing feather in the hat. A crack shaped like a smile. A little sidekick bug on the shoulder.
Type your one signature detail.
- Finish the step above first09
Open Leonardo and get set up
Time to meet your tool. Go to Leonardo and make a free account.
Find the Image Generation page. Set the shape to a square (1:1) - sprites are usually square so they drop into a game neatly.
Type the canvas shape you picked so you remember it.
Open Leonardo (new tab) - Finish the step above first10
Test a quick draft first
Smart artists test small before going big. Copy this simple prompt, paste it into Leonardo's prompt box, and hit Generate.
This is just a rough first look. It does not have to be perfect - you are only checking that the tool works.
Watch the images appear. Which one is closest to your idea?
what will really happenOpen Leonardo (new tab)Leonardo gives you a grid of options to pick from.
It mangles hands, faces, and small details and edges can come out messy.
It often ignores part of your prompt, like your exact colors or that one signature detail.
Game asset sprite of [name], a [asset] set in [world]. [style] style, [view]. Single subject, centered on a plain background, clean crisp edges. - Finish the step above first11
Build your real game-art prompt
Now go full power. This adds your palette, your personality, and your signature detail - all the control the quick draft was missing.
Tap to build your prompt. The page fills in every choice you made.
Copy it, paste it into Leonardo, and Generate. THIS one is your real sprite.
Open Leonardo (new tab)Do the steps above and your Your game-art prompt shows up here.hold on - judge it, do not celebrate- Is this the sprite you imagined, or just the first thing it made?
- Did it actually include your signature detail, or skip it?
- What would you tweak to make it truly YOURS?
Did you regenerate to get your detail right, or accept the draft?
- Finish the step above first12
Ship it to the class wall
You made real game art from your own brain. Do not let it hide on your screen.
Download your favorite sprite from Leonardo, then post it on the class wall with a line about your game world.
Tag it #GLUNTY so everyone can see the world only you would build.
The class wall - share yours
Loading the class wall...
Sign in up top to post yours. You can read everyone else's right now.
You made real game art!
You designed a sprite that came straight from your own head - your world, your colors, and one weird detail no AI would guess on its own. Nobody else on Earth has this exact art, and it is ready to drop into a real game.
the lever vs your taste
Anyone can type 'cool game character'
Type 'cool game character' into any AI and you get the same shiny nobody-hero a thousand other people just got. That is pulling the lever. It is not yours.
Your sprite is different because it carries your choices: your world, your view, your colors, and that one strange detail only you would dream up. A machine cannot guess those - you have to bring them.
first time here?
Here is how it works
- Tap Copy to grab the words.
- Tap Open to go to the tool. Paste it there.
- Come back. Type what happened in the box.
- Tap I did it. The next step opens up.
One step at a time. You have to do each one to unlock the next. Ready?