Your Steam capsule image matters more than almost anything else on your store page. It's the difference between a player stopping mid-scroll to click, or blowing right past you in the discovery queue. As we explain in our guide on how Steam's algorithm works, click-through rate drives algorithmic visibility more than any other factor. A weak capsule tanks your CTR, and low CTR means Steam stops showing your game to people.
So yeah -- your capsule is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Here's how to make it actually work.
Steam capsule types and dimensions
Steam requires multiple capsule sizes for different contexts. Getting these right is non-negotiable, and Valve will reject your page if you don't hit the specs. If you're building out your full store page alongside this, our store page checklist covers every asset you need.
Your main capsule is 460 x 215 pixels. It shows up in search results, wishlists, and the main store. This is the one that does the most work, and it has to read clearly even at thumbnail size.
The header capsule shares those same 460 x 215 dimensions and sits in your store page header next to the trailer. Think of it as your capsule's twin -- it should feel consistent with everything else on the page.
The small capsule is just 231 x 87 pixels. It appears in bundle pages, recommendations, and smaller UI elements. If your design falls apart at this size, you've got a problem. I'd argue this is the hardest one to get right.
The hero capsule is 374 x 448 pixels -- a vertical format shown on your store page. This one gives you room to breathe. You can add more atmosphere and detail here than in your horizontal capsules.
The library capsule is 600 x 900 pixels. It's how your game looks in players' libraries after purchase. Post-purchase branding still matters for word-of-mouth and for when players browse their collections looking for something to play.
One thing that trips people up: you can't just resize a single image across all five sizes. The aspect ratios are different, and a composition that works in landscape will fall apart in portrait. Plan for at least two distinct compositions -- one horizontal, one vertical -- and adapt from there.
The 0.5-second rule
Players spend about half a second deciding whether to click on your capsule. In that sliver of time, they need to understand what kind of game this is, feel some spark of interest, and notice something that sets it apart from everything around it.
That's not a lot of time. Complex compositions and subtle details get lost at scroll speed. Bold, clear visual statements win.
I've watched people scroll through Steam's discovery queue in user testing sessions, and the speed is brutal. Thumb flick, thumb flick, thumb flick -- stop. The games that earn that stop have capsules that communicate in a fraction of a second. If yours needs more than a glance to "get," it's not working.
Here's a useful exercise: open Steam's top sellers page and squint. The capsules that still read clearly when you can barely see them? Those are the ones doing it right. The ones that turn into indistinct colored rectangles need work.
Design principles that actually get clicks
1. Minimize or eliminate text
The best-performing indie capsules use zero to three words maximum. Your capsule is a visual hook, not a billboard.
Look at games like Hollow Knight, Celeste, or Hades. Their capsules show their world and tone, not marketing copy. The art does the selling.
If you must use text, make it your game's logo only, and make sure it's readable at small sizes. Anything more than that and you're fighting yourself. Review quotes on a capsule? Nobody can read them at thumbnail size, and they make it look like you're compensating for something.
2. Show your visual identity
What makes your game visually distinctive? Lead with that. A striking art style, a memorable character design, an unusual color palette -- whatever it is, that should dominate your capsule.
Generic fantasy character poses and generic sci-fi corridors blend into the background. I've seen so many capsules that look like they could belong to any game in the genre. Find the thing that's yours and turn it up. This principle applies to your screenshots and trailer too -- visual consistency across all your store assets builds trust and recognition.
3. Use high contrast
Your capsule will appear alongside dozens of others. Low-contrast or muted palettes just disappear. Strong value contrasts and clear focal points grab attention.
This doesn't mean everything needs to be neon. It means your composition should have clear lights and darks, with your main subject standing out from the background. Steam's dark UI swallows up dark capsules especially -- keep that in mind.
I see a lot of horror games make this mistake. Dark character, dark background, dark everything. It fits the mood, sure, but it vanishes on the page. The best horror capsules use a single bright element -- a glowing eye, a splash of red, a beam of light -- to create a focal point against the darkness.
4. Imply action and energy
Static portraits feel lifeless. Even for slower-paced games, capsules that suggest movement or dramatic tension perform better.
A character mid-jump, an explosion in the background, environmental elements that create visual flow -- give the eye something dynamic to latch onto. Your capsule should feel like a frozen moment from an interesting scene, not a posed headshot.
This doesn't mean your capsule needs to look like an action movie poster. A cozy farming sim can imply energy through wind in the trees, a character reaching for something, or warm light spilling through a doorway. Energy is about visual momentum, not violence.
5. Design for thumbnail first
Start your design at the smallest size it'll appear. If it doesn't work at 231 x 87 pixels, it doesn't work. Scale up from there.
Common thumbnail problems: text that becomes unreadable, important details that vanish, compositions that turn into muddy blobs, and characters that become unrecognizable silhouettes. All of these are fixable, but only if you catch them early by actually testing at small sizes before you commit to a direction.
Capsule design on a budget
Not everyone can hire a professional artist, and that's okay. Plenty of successful indie games shipped with capsules made by the developer. Here's how to make it work if you're doing this yourself.
Start with your strongest in-game art. A well-composed screenshot can be a better capsule base than mediocre custom art. Crop it tight, bump the contrast, and overlay your logo. Games like Vampire Survivors shipped with relatively simple capsule art and still performed well because the composition was clear and the colors popped.
If you can't paint or illustrate, lean into graphic design instead. Strong typography, bold color blocks, and simple geometric compositions can be just as effective as detailed illustration. Look at how Brotato handles its capsule -- it's not complex art, but it reads instantly and has personality.
Free tools that'll get you there: GIMP or Photopea for image editing, Canva for quick layout work, and Google Fonts for free commercial-use typefaces. You don't need Photoshop. You need a clear idea and the willingness to iterate.
One investment worth making even on a tight budget: get feedback before you finalize. Post your capsule in r/gamedev or indie dev Discord servers. Fresh eyes catch problems you've gone blind to after staring at your art for weeks. And run it through our Capsule Validator to catch technical issues before Valve does.
If you can afford exactly one freelance expense for your store page, make it the capsule. A good freelance illustrator on Fiverr or ArtStation can produce a solid capsule for $50-200. That's probably the highest-ROI money you'll spend on marketing.
One more thing: don't try to make your budget capsule look like a AAA marketing image. Own your art style. Players can spot inauthenticity, and a capsule that honestly represents your game's aesthetic will attract the right audience. The goal isn't to look expensive -- it's to look intentional.
Common mistakes to avoid
Putting too much text on your capsule is the single most common mistake I see. Marketing taglines, feature lists, review quotes -- none of it belongs here. It clutters the visual and honestly makes your game look desperate. Save that copy for your Steam description.
Inconsistent branding hurts more than people realize. Your capsule, screenshots, and trailer should feel like they're from the same game. Jarring style differences confuse players about what they're actually getting. Check our screenshot optimization guide for tips on keeping your visuals cohesive across the whole page.
"Character on left, logo on right" is what everyone defaults to. Breaking this template thoughtfully helps you stand out. That said, don't break conventions just to be different -- break them because you've found something that communicates your game better.
Overly busy compositions kill readability. When everything is emphasized, nothing is. Pick one focal point and design around it. Leave breathing room.
Poor quality assets -- pixelation, compression artifacts, low-resolution source art -- instantly signal "low effort" to players. This is worth spending money on if you need to.
And here's one that's easy to overlook: not updating your capsule when your game's art improves. A lot of indie devs create their capsule early in development, then polish the game significantly before launch but forget to update the capsule. Your capsule should always reflect your game at its best.
Testing your capsule
Before finalizing, test your capsule in real contexts. Don't just look at it full-size in your image editor and call it done -- that's how bad capsules ship.
View it at actual thumbnail sizes in your browser. Place it alongside competitor capsules in a grid and see if it holds up or vanishes. Get feedback from people who've never seen your game and ask them what genre they think it is from the capsule alone. If they can't tell, that's a problem. A/B test different versions if you can.
Our free Capsule Validator tool checks technical requirements and flags common issues instantly. If you're also working on screenshots, the Screenshot Checker validates those dimensions too.
Testing matters even more if you're preparing for a Steam Next Fest. During events, your capsule competes against hundreds of other games in the same category, and the ones that read clearly at small sizes get disproportionately more clicks.
One testing method I like: show your capsule to someone for exactly one second, then take it away. Ask them what they remember. If they can describe the genre and mood of your game, you're in good shape. If they can only say "it was blue" or "there was a person," you need to push your visual identity harder.
Examples worth studying
Hollow Knight goes with pure atmospheric art -- a silhouetted character against a moody background. Zero text, all mood. You know exactly what kind of game this is before you can articulate why.
Celeste uses bold colors and a clear character silhouette in a dynamic pose. The mountain motif reads instantly. One word of text (the logo).
Dead Cells shows an action pose with enemies visible, high energy throughout. You can tell it's a fast combat game in a glance. Logo only.
Slay the Spire leads with its distinctive art style, card game elements subtly visible, mysterious atmosphere. It looks like nothing else in the roguelike space.
Balatro is a more recent example that nails it. The Joker card visual is immediately recognizable, the color palette is bold and distinctive, and you can tell at a glance this is a card game -- but one with personality. It stands out in any browse list because nothing else looks like it.
Dome Keeper uses a stark, high-contrast composition with its character centered against a vivid background. The art style is simple but extremely readable at thumbnail size, proving you don't need intricate detail to make a strong capsule.
Vampire Survivors went the opposite direction from polished and it worked. The capsule is chaotic, packed with enemies, and looks like barely controlled mayhem. It communicates "swarm survival" perfectly. Sometimes matching the energy of your game matters more than conventional polish.
The thread connecting all of these: art first, text barely present, genre and tone readable in a single glance.
I'd recommend spending an hour browsing Steam and saving every capsule that catches your eye. After you've collected thirty or forty, look at them together and figure out what they have in common. Then look at the ones you scrolled past and figure out why. That exercise is worth more than any design guide -- including this one.
Frequently asked questions
What's the most important capsule size to get right? The main capsule at 460 x 215 pixels. It appears in more places than any other size -- search results, wishlists, discovery queues, and sale pages. If you only have time to obsess over one capsule, this is it. Our Steam store page optimization guide covers how this capsule fits into your overall page strategy.
Should I update my capsule after launch? Yes, and many successful games do. Major updates, seasonal events, and sales are all good reasons to refresh your capsule. A new capsule can re-engage lapsed players browsing their queue and signal that your game is actively maintained. Just make sure your updated capsule still reads clearly at thumbnail size and stays consistent with the rest of your store page branding. Some developers even create seasonal variants to stay fresh in recommendation feeds.
Can I use screenshots as my capsule image? You can, but a raw screenshot rarely works well on its own. The composition won't be optimized for the capsule aspect ratio, and important details tend to get lost at small sizes. If you're going to use in-game art, crop and adjust it specifically for the capsule format. Add your logo, bump the contrast, and make sure it doesn't just look like a random gameplay moment. Our screenshot optimization guide has more on choosing strong in-game visuals.
How do I know if my capsule is actually performing well? Check your click-through rate in Steamworks. Steam doesn't give you a direct "capsule CTR" metric, but your impression-to-visit ratio tells you how often people who see your game actually click on it. If that number is low, your capsule is likely part of the problem. The Steam algorithm weighs CTR heavily, so improving it has a compounding effect on your visibility.
Your capsule is the first thing players see and the biggest lever you have for improving click-through rate. Run yours through the Capsule Validator to catch technical issues, and use the Screenshot Checker to make sure your other visuals match. For a full walkthrough of every element on your page, read the Steam store page optimization guide and the store page checklist.
Browse our genre-specific optimization guides for strategies tailored to your game type, and check the Steam Page Leaderboard to see how top games optimize their store pages.