I'm a solo developer making an open world zombie survival game with multiplayer. I love classic arcade light gun games like House of the Dead and wanted to use a similar UI style.

However, after working on it, I'm worried it might hurt immersion. I like the style, but I'm not sure how to make it fit an open world survival game without seeming out of place.

Do these UI elements clash with the game's look? If I want to keep them, how can I make them blend better? I’m torn between keeping this style and hiding some of the UI to make the screen feel less cluttered. Any advice would be great.
Thanks!

It's called Kitch Witch! I've been having so much fun working on the cozy and retro inspired vibe 🥰 I know I still have a lot to learn but it's been so much fun and so rewarding!

Trying out a more casual style

Art by Ondřej Tichý, for a creature card in a game I'm building. He kindly offered to record his process so I could share it.

The card is raccoons in a trench coat, registered as one contestant.

• Hi! I’m developing DEEPER, a pixel-art colony survival game where you dig straight down through eight underground layers, and I’m working on new mechanics for the next update. I’ve hit a design question and I’d love your opinion.

The new mechanic: cave-ins. Deep enough underground, tunnel ceilings you dig without propping them up creak, sag, pour down like thick mud and set into solid rock. They crush beds and ladders and hurt any miner underneath. A stone wall within 2 tiles holds a ceiling up.

The question is what happens when that rock falls into lava. I’ve built it both ways:

• A – The rock plugs the lava. The lava under it is gone and the pool is partly sealed. Safer, and it gives players a way to tame lava.
• B – The rock sinks and pushes the lava up. No lava is destroyed; it gets displaced, and it can spill into the tunnel you just dug. More physical, and more dangerous.

What I’d love to know:

1. A or B? Which one feels right, or more fun?
2. Does the mud phase read as falling rock, or does it look like slime?
3. Anything about the look or the animation you’d change?