What is a pixel art color palette?

A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.

How many colors should a palette have?

For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.

How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?

Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.

Can I import my own palette file?

Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.

How do I copy the hex codes?

Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.

Are these palettes free to use commercially?

Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes

Free palettes with every hex code listed: hardware classics like Game Boy, PICO-8 and NES, plus ramps built for dungeons, characters and tilesets. 256 palettes, one click to save any of them.

Every retro color palette here lists its full hex codes. Copy them straight off any palette page, or add a palette to your account and it shows up in the pixel art editor color sidebar, ready to draw with or to snap an existing sprite onto. Already have favourites from Aseprite or another editor? MagicPixel also imports .gpl, .pal and .hex palette files. New to working inside a limited set? Start with the color palette guide.

Chasing that 8-bit and 16-bit look? pulled straight from the consoles and computers that defined them.

Popular palettes: Game Boy DMG, PICO-8, NES, Commodore 64, CGA 16, ZX Spectrum.

36 palettes

Dungeon Torchlit

12 colors

Warm torch falloff over cold stone: the classic dungeon-crawler lighting split.

MagicPixel

dungeon
warm
fire

Crypt Bones

10 colors

Bone whites over cold crypt grays: skeletons, ossuaries, and dusty tombs.

MagicPixel

dungeon
horror
grayscale

Mushroom Grove

10 colors

Violet shade with capped pinks: fungal forests and spore-lit clearings.

MagicPixel

nature
fantasy
purple

Slime Green

8 colors

A gooey green ramp for slimes, poison, ooze, and toxic pools.

MagicPixel

green
monsters
vibrant

Knight & Squire

12 colors

Steel plate with tabard reds and leather browns: ready-made knight sprites.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
metal

Ranger Leathers

10 colors

Forest greens over worn leather for rangers, hunters, and scouts.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
green

Wizard Robes

10 colors

Arcane purples with gold trim: robes, spell circles, and enchanted cloth.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
purple

Necromancer

16 colors

Deathly greens and violet shadow with a blood accent for undead-themed sprites.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
horror

Gold & Gems

12 colors

A full gold ramp plus sapphire and ruby accents for loot and inventory icons.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
gold

Treasure Hoard

12 colors

Piled coins and jeweled goblets: warm metals lifted by violet gem light.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
gold

Potion Shelf

12 colors

Distinct liquid hues on one neutral glass base so every potion reads at 16px.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
vibrant

Alchemy Lab

10 colors

Warm workbench neutrals with two reagent accents for lab and shop interiors.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
muted

Spellbook Arcane

10 colors

Glowing arcane violets for spell effects, runes, and magic-circle vfx.

MagicPixel

effects
fantasy
purple

Medieval Town

16 colors

Timber, plaster, slate, and banner colors: a complete village tileset palette.

MagicPixel

environment
fantasy
town

Castle Banner

12 colors

Castle stone plus heraldic red, blue, and gold for flags, shields, and crests.

MagicPixel

fantasy
town
cool

Fairy Glade

10 colors

Moonlit greens with two fae pinks for enchanted clearings and glow motes.

MagicPixel

fantasy
nature
pastel

UI Parchment

8 colors

Warm paper values for dialog boxes, scrolls, maps, and inventory panels.

MagicPixel

ui
warm
fantasy

Monsters & Goblins

12 colors

Sickly greens with fleshy warms for goblins, orcs, and dungeon fauna.

MagicPixel

characters
monsters
green

Crystal Cavern

12 colors

Deep blue rock lit by violet and teal crystal: glow-cave interiors and gem seams.

MagicPixel

environment
dungeon
purple

Orc Warband

12 colors

Olive hide, leather straps, and blood-red war paint for greenskin mobs.

MagicPixel

characters
monsters
green

Dragon Scales

11 colors

Ember-red scale values with a horn-and-claw ramp: big warm-blooded beasts.

MagicPixel

monsters
fantasy
red

Fae Wings

10 colors

Iridescent violets with mint and pollen accents for sprites, moths, and fae creatures.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
purple

Gilded Paladin

12 colors

Polished steel plate trimmed in gold, with one heraldic blue for tabards and banners.

MagicPixel

characters
armor
gold

Mossbound Druid

11 colors

Moss and bark tones for nature casters, treefolk, and overgrown armor.

MagicPixel

characters
nature
green

Goblin Market

7 colors

Grubby gold and mildew green for cluttered underworld stalls.

MagicPixel

fantasy
town
monsters

Witch Hut

7 colors

Candle-warmed clutter tones for hedge-magic cottages and shelves.

MagicPixel

fantasy
interior
dark

Rune Frost

7 colors

Frozen glyph blues for ice magic, wards and enchanted steel.

MagicPixel

fantasy
ice
cool

Holy Order

7 colors

Gilded vestment tones for temple knights and blessed relics.

MagicPixel

fantasy
gold
armor

Bog Troll

7 colors

Warty swamp greens for large brutes and mud-caked hides.

MagicPixel

monsters
fantasy
green

Harpy Plume

7 colors

Feathered brown-rose ramp for beast-folk plumage and talons.

MagicPixel

monsters
fantasy
warm

Lich Frost

7 colors

Grave-cold greens for undead sorcerers and cursed flame.

MagicPixel

monsters
horror
dark

Noble Court

7 colors

Royal violets for courtly dress, drapes and throne rooms.

MagicPixel

fantasy
purple
characters

Mermaid Scale

7 colors

Iridescent aquatic greens for scales, fins and underwater folk.

MagicPixel

fantasy
water
green

Stained Glass

7 colors

Saturated leaded-glass jewels bound by dark lead lines.

MagicPixel

interior
vibrant
fantasy

Gemstone Cut

7 colors

Faceted amethyst ramp for loot sparkle and rare item rarity tiers.

MagicPixel

items
purple
gold

Arcane VFX

7 colors

Spell-glow violets for casting circles, sigils and impacts.

MagicPixel

vfx
effects
purple

Provenance and licensing. Hardware and system palettes here (Game Boy, PICO-8, CGA, C64, ZX Spectrum, NES and friends) are factual color sets from the machines themselves, credited on each card. Community palettes are included only when released CC0, credited to their authors. Every other palette is authored by MagicPixel. All of them are free to use in your projects, commercial work included, and color values themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes, explained

What is a pixel art color palette?: A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.
How many colors should a palette have?: For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.
How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?: Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.
Can I import my own palette file?: Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.
How do I copy the hex codes?: Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.
Are these palettes free to use commercially?: Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.