Pixel and arcade fonts
Bitmap-style and dot-matrix display fonts after 1980s game screens, terminals and LED panels, for retro games and tech graphics.
GAME OVER
Early computers drew every letter on a tiny grid, often eight pixels square, because that was all the memory allowed. Type designers working inside that limit had to decide, pixel by pixel, how to suggest a curve or a diagonal. The resulting alphabets, blocky and instantly recognizable, are now shorthand for arcade cabinets, home computers and the early internet.
Pixel fonts today are ordinary scalable fonts that imitate those grids. That matters in use, because a pixel face only looks crisp when its grid lines up with the pixels of the screen. Set an eight-pixel design at 16, 24 or 32 pixels and the edges are sharp; set it at 19 and the browser blurs the steps. Check the record for the grid size where it is given, and work in whole multiples of it. For games, switch off font smoothing where the engine allows.
Dot-matrix fonts are close relatives, built from round dots as on LED signs and old printers. Some recent ones are variable, so the dots can grow, shrink or change shape. Both kinds suit titles, scores, menus and short labels; long passages in them are hard going.
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Press Start 2P
Traced from 1980s arcade game lettering on an 8-pixel grid, with Greek and Cyrillic.
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VT323
A monospaced pixel font rebuilt from the character set of a hardware terminal, CRT smear included.
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Pixelify Sans
Square-pixel letters with stair-step curves in the manner of 1980s game screens, on a weight axis from Regular to Bold.
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Silkscreen
Capitals-only pixel letters built from square blocks, in Regular and Bold.
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Tiny5
Five pixels tall with proportional widths, covering Latin, Cyrillic and Greek.
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Jersey 10
Heavy, slightly condensed letters whose corners and diagonals are stair-stepped on a square grid, first made so lettering could be charted for knitting.
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Bitcount Single
Dot-matrix letters on a grid, with variable axes that change weight, slant and the dots themselves.
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Bitcount Ink
A dot-matrix color font with eleven variable axes, from weight to dot shape.
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Doto
A dot-matrix face with two variable axes: weight from 100 to 900 and Roundness for the dots.
Samples load a basic Latin subset of each family. Every family here carries an open license; its page states the terms and offers the original files.
Questions about pixel and arcade fonts
Why does my pixel font look blurry?
It is being drawn at a size that does not match its grid. Use whole multiples of the design size, and disable anti-aliasing or font smoothing where your tool allows it.
Can I use these pixel fonts in a game I sell?
Yes. All are under the SIL Open Font License, which permits embedding in commercial games and apps. Keep the license file with the font in your build.
Do pixel fonts support accented letters?
Coverage varies. Some include Cyrillic and Greek, as noted below; others cover basic Latin only, so test your localized text.