Raising the quality bar

When looking at the hundreds of thousands of games out there, it is quite easy to recognize the top-tier games from the bottom-tier. However, when we look across the spectrum at all the best games, there is a stark difference between them. Some games are very minimalist, some are photo-realistic, while others are fantastical. These games might be made by a few people, or a large team of specialists. What is it that makes games that are fundamentally so different still able to achieve the same definition of quality? The answer is quite simple and can be summed up by three general principles: Consistency, Readability, and Polish. While creating high caliber art and audio, it does require plenty of acquired skills learned through years of study and practice. Following these few rules will help make any game appear more professional.

Consistency

Consistency sounds obvious but it is actually a lot more challenging than one might expect. Each sprite, background, or other...