Meet Elena and Newt!

A quick dive into the character art of Newt!

Newt! is a charming puzzle game that tells of the adventure of a girl named Elena & her magical salamander friend, Newt. The player ventures with Elena & Newt into the Tritón forest and helps them solve puzzles after finding themselves lost in ancient underground ruins. The idea for Elena’s & Newt’s characters came relatively easily to the team. The general concept of the characters had already been decided on in the initial pitch, along with a general idea for the story.

The fun part was coming up with concept art for these characters. Elena was designed with her personality in mind: a young girl who loves to adventure. She’s quite creative and has a knack for solving all kinds of puzzles. ​The team wanted her to have a backpack so she can carry around anything she finds on her adventures, as well as her friend Newt.

Newt’s design was quite simple but charming, nonetheless. He’s a cute, orange shapeshifting salamander and Elena's longtime trusted companion. He’s just as adventurous as Elena and has a penchant for danger. ​

Abuelita is Elena's beloved grandmother. She’s very wise and wishes to someday bestow Elena with certain knowledge when she is ready. Her outfit is based off traditional Peruvian clothing. She appears only in the cutscenes of the game as an NPC but coming up with her design & character was just as important for establishing the story.

The color scheme for Newt!’s characters is a vibrant mix of warms & cools. In this way, they match nicely with the many vibrant colors of the environment and help set the adventurous tone the team wanted for the game.

Further concept art was created for Newt, as well as Elena’s backpack, for a better visual reference when modeling the characters.

Both Elena & Newt were modeled in a cutesy, low-poly style to match the theme of the rest of the game. Their models were based entirely off their concept art. When the player plays as either Elena or Newt, they’re able to see them from a third-person perspective. So, it was vital to make sure their models matched up with the visual style of the game, felt complimentary to the environment, and gave a memorable & charming impression.

Concept art & Elena model by Emyee Fox - Newt model by Adrianna Thiele

Sometimes one of the most memorable parts of a game is its characters, so we hope the characters of Newt! are enjoyed by players. They were fun to bring to life and will have a special place in the team’s hearts for a long time to come.

Emyee Fox

Character Art Lead & Animation Lead