Prop Design for Games

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Prop Design for Games: Purpose, Story, and Buildable Sheets

Props are the everyday heroes of a game world. They fill the moments between cutscenes and boss arenas—the doors you open, the crates you pry, the lantern that makes a cave feel safe. Done right, props make a world feel lived-in and legible; done poorly, they become visual noise. This article keeps the focus away from tools and straight on seeing, deciding, and practicing prop design: the fundamentals, how to improve from your current level, and a practical workflow you can run today.

The Job of a Prop Concept Artist

Your job isn’t “draw an object.” Your job is to make an interaction inevitable—to show how something is used, stored, locked, carried, repaired, and read by a player and a production team. Each prop concept should answer three questions:

What must this prop do in the game loop? (gate progress, heal, craft, sell, decorate, explode)
What is its world logic? (materials available, culture, economy, climate, maintenance reality)
How will production build and animate it? (clear forms, believable joins, open / close states, callouts)

When those answers are strong, a prop stops being set dressing and starts being a playable affordance.

Fundamentals That Never Go Out of Style

Function First: Design to a Verb

Anchor every prop to a verb: open, carry, mix, measure, light, lock, heal. Verbs drive:

Affordances (handles, switches, lids, latches, grips)
Proportions (long spout for pouring; wide base for stability)
States (closed → ready → used → stored)

Try this: Write one sentence before you draw: “A two-stage alchemist burner that simmers quietly and flares when the side lever is thrown.” Every decision serves that sentence.

Proportions & Primary Reads

Props live among noise. Make the primary use part the biggest or highest-contrast shape (spout, lid, trigger, screen). Use large / medium / small breakup to structure attention. If everything is medium, nothing reads.

Ergonomics & Human Scale

Hands first: where do fingers go, how does the wrist move, how heavy is it? Include a hand overlay or a scale figure on your sheet. Show carry points—straps, loops, handholds—and rest points—feet, stands, magnets, holsters. If a character can’t pick it up, your world can’t either.

Construction Logic: How It’s Assembled

Believability grows from joins: screws, rivets, bolts, dovetails, welds, bindings, stitches, mortises. Show thickness at edges. Let panels overlap and step. If a detail has no fastening, bracket, hinge, or seam, it’s probably decoration—use sparingly and only where it supports story.

Materials & Wear: Truth in Surfaces

Materials obey physics and time:

Metal dents on edges, heat-discolors near ports, oxidizes at water traps.
Wood compresses where gripped, chips against hard corners, darkens with oils.
Leather stretches at stress points, polishes on rub zones, cracks at bends.
Ceramic / Stone chips along lips and corners; glaze crazes; chalk dust collects in textures.

Apply directional wear: gravity, wind, sun, liquid runs. If you can say how it ages, you can say how it was used.

Shape Language & Motifs: Speak the Culture

Squares read sturdy / industrial, triangles read aggressive / technical, circles read welcoming / sacred. Establish a motif dictionary (vent style, trims, numerals, knotwork, decorative fasteners) and echo it across a faction’s props. Cohesion beats complexity.

Readability: The Three-Read Rule

Macro (5–10 m): silhouette and purpose hint (“that’s a pump,” “that’s a shrine urn”).
Mid (2–3 m): where to interact (handle, screen, slot).
Micro (first-person / inspect): material story, labels, maker’s marks, warnings.

Color-block affordances consistently: all handles one material or hue family, all interactives framed by a common motif.

Design for the World (So It Feels Inevitable)

Climate & Terrain: Desert props show dust covers, fabric seals, sunbleach; arctic props have oversized grips, anti-ice edges; jungle props add drainage slits, corrosion-resistant finishes.
Economy: Mass-produced gear repeats fasteners and standardized parts; artisan relics reveal hand-variation and irregular spacing.
Power / “Magic” Source: Affects containment, vents, glyph channels, recharge points, and FX hooks (where light / sound lives).
Storage & Transport: How is this stored when not in use? Crates have inner cradles; delicate props have straps, clips, shock mounts. Design the home as well as the object.

Prop Taxonomy (Design Goals by Type)

Hero Props (quest items, keys, signature tools): iconic silhouette, strong motif, bespoke wear story, multiple states.
Interactable Props (switches, terminals, consoles, locks): unmistakable affordances, clear feedback surfaces.
Pickups & Consumables (ammo, health, crafting): tiered shapes / colors, fast count / read at a glance.
Set Dressing (barrels, mugs, signage): texture and motif glue; simpler reads, repeated parts; support culture not gameplay.
Assemblies & Rigs (workbenches, cooking sets, generators): prop ecosystems with cable routing, drainage, safety guards, and service panels.

Level Up From Where You Are

Beginner: Build Honest, Readable Objects

Common issues: toy-like scale, unclear function, detail soup.

Start with silhouettes (black on white) for a single verb (pour, cut, lock). Do 30.
Convert 5 to three-value studies (dark / mid / light) to lock hierarchy before lines.
Add hand overlays and one open / close sketch per prop.

Success metric: A friend can guess the verb from the silhouette, and the hand fits.

Intermediate: Package, States, and Motifs

Common issues: pretty surfacing, weak mechanisms, same solution repeated.

Do package diagrams: label contents, hinges, latch directions, sealing gaskets, power / fluid paths.
Draw state strips (stowed → ready → used → maintained). You’ll discover missing clearances and panels instantly.
Build a faction kit-of-parts: 4 latch types, 4 handles, 4 brackets, 4 panel edge treatments. Reuse them for cohesion.

Success metric: An animator can describe the action from your drawings without guessing.

Advanced: Production Clarity & Prop Families

Common issues: over-detail at the wrong scale, under-communicated assembly.

Deliver hero view + clean ortho (front / side / top) for proportion truth.
Provide exploded views with part names, materials, thicknesses.
Design families: small / medium / large variants sharing bones and motifs; retail and field-service versions; seasonal / event skins.

Success metric: A modeler builds 80% from your sheet; a level artist can place variants without breaking style.

A Practical, Repeatable Prop Workflow

One-Sentence Brief + Three Pillars
“Wall-mounted emergency med kit | Obvious Tamper-proof Field-serviceable.”
Role & Interaction Note
Player opens with one hand, grabs syringe, kit locks after 10 seconds; NPCs can restock.
Reference Board (labeled “why”)
Hinges, break-glass frames, numbered seals, hospital color codes, IP65 gaskets, quick-release latches.
Silhouette Sheet (20–30)
Explore door orientation, pull points, window shapes, latch placement. Circle three.
Package Diagram
Show layout (shelves, straps), hinge side, latch direction, seal path, tamper strip, restock panel.
Three-Value Studies
Lock path-of-read: handle > window > cross icon > restock seam.
States Strip (4 frames)
Closed → Unsealing → Open with contents → Empty / locked.
Shape Language & Motifs
Decide cross icon geometry, edge bevel rule, warning stripe angle; apply consistently.
Material & Wear Pass
Powder coat, acrylic window, rubber seal; wear on handle polish, scratches near latch, UV fade at top lip.
Hero Illustration + Callouts
Show use in context (hallway wall, grime) with arrows to latch, hinge, seal, service panel, mount bracket.
Exploded View & Part Names
Case, door, hinge pins, seal, latch, insert tray, straps, fasteners (with sizes).
Variant Passes
Corporate white / teal, militia olive / orange, cyberpunk chrome / LED—same bones, new story.

Drills That Actually Work

50 Verbs, 50 Props: Write 50 everyday verbs; design a prop for each as a silhouette. Zero lines, 90 seconds each.
Hinge & Latch Sheet: Draw 20 believable mechanisms (butterfly latch, cam lock, toggle clamp, hasp & staple, bayonet mount). Label motion arrows.
Exploded View Week: One prop per day, 6–12 parts, named and thickness-indicated. You’ll start designing structure, not stickers.
Single-Material Challenge: Design 5 props that could be injection-molded from one material. Solve strength and assembly with ribs, bosses, snaps.
Affordance Paint-Over: Take screenshots of busy scenes; paint handles / buttons / seams in a single value to test readability.
Family Builder: One base canister; produce S / M / L, refill-only, military, luxury. Keep shared motifs; vary proportion knobs.
Wear Story Cards: For 6 props, draw “New / 6 months / 5 years.” Direct where damage accumulates and where field repairs happen.
Home & Holster: Design the storage cradle / holster for 3 props. If you can’t mount or store it, you don’t understand it.

Common Problems and Fast Fixes

“Pretty object, unclear use.”
Enlarge or isolate the primary affordance; add contrast framing around handles / slots; remove competing edges near the focal.
“Greeble soup.”
Anchor every detail to a structural reason: fastener → bracket → panel. Reduce micro-noise outside interaction zones.
“Scale feels off.”
Add a hand, a coin, a standard screw head size. Normalize wall thickness and fastener diameters across the sheet.
“Open / close doesn’t work.”
Draw the motion with arrows and clearance arcs; add hinges / latches to support it; cut away interferences.
“All factions look samey.”
Keep function; change structure logic (cast vs. framed), edge rules, motifs, and numerical typography. Don’t rely only on color.
“Too fragile for the world.”
Add ribs, gussets, guards, bumpers; reduce cantilevered parts; consider gloves—enlarge controls and spacing.
“FX team has nowhere to live.”
Place vents, screens, glyph channels, or LED troughs with purpose; give audio a grille, give light a lens.

Critique Like a Pro (Even When You’re Solo)

Ask three questions:

Appeal: Does one idea dominate the silhouette?
Believability: Can I narrate how it’s made, opened, used, and stored in 15 seconds?
Clarity: Can a new viewer find the handle, switch, seam, or slot instantly?

Then: squint for value hierarchy; flip canvas to catch proportion bias; do a table test—place the prop on a flat plane and check if it sits without weird balance.

Your “Definition of Done” for a Prop Sheet

One-sentence brief and three design pillars at the top.
Hero view in context and at least one clean ortho for proportion truth.
State strip (closed → open → used → stored) with motion arrows.
Exploded view with named parts, materials, and wall thickness callouts.
Affordance highlights (handles, buttons, seams) and safety / warning graphics.
Material & finish swatches plus a short wear story.
Scale reference (hand overlay / measure strip) and mount / holster / home if relevant.
One variant (faction / tier / climate) or a family (S / M / L).

If something’s missing, you’re not failing—you’ve found the next drawing.

Final Encouragement

Prop design is where function meets poetry. When you anchor an object to a verb, respect construction truth, and let culture whisper through motifs and wear, your props stop being background noise and start carrying the world. Keep your silhouettes bold, your joins honest, and your callouts generous to the teammates downstream. Don’t wait for a perfect brief—write one. Ship a sheet. Then another. Your worlds get believable one latch, one handle, one honest edge at a time.