In the fast-paced world of game development, great level design isn’t just about beautiful visuals — it’s about layout, flow, player feel, and pacing. And in 2025, more teams than ever are using greyboxing (or blockouts) as a foundational step in their design pipeline.
Whether you’re working in Unity, Unreal, Godot, or your own engine, greyboxing levels can save hundreds of hours — while uncovering gameplay issues before art assets ever hit the scene.
🔧 What is Greyboxing?
Greyboxing is the process of building a level using only simple, untextured 3D primitives — cubes, planes, cylinders — to define:
- Basic layout and geometry
- Player routes and movement space
- Enemy and objective placement
- Verticality, line-of-sight, and rhythm
It’s called “greyboxing” because these placeholder shapes are typically rendered in neutral grey — no lighting, no polish, just pure function.
🎯 Why Greyboxing Is a Must in 2025
1. Catch Gameplay Issues Early
You’ll know within minutes if a boss arena is too tight, or if a puzzle room feels confusing. No need to waste hours building a stunning castle — only to learn the layout frustrates players.
2. Enable Team Parallelization
While designers finalize blockouts, artists can begin modeling sets, and audio designers can map trigger zones — all in parallel using a shared structure.
3. Save on Rework
Modular greyboxes make iteration painless. Need to move a platform 2m to the right? Done. Try that with a baked-in, art-heavy level — and watch your production time balloon.
🛠 Recommended Greyboxing Tools
- Unity: ProBuilder, Grid & Snap, Scene View Shortcuts
- Unreal Engine: BSP Brushes, Level Designer Toolkit
- Godot: GridMaps and CSG Shapes
- Blender: For prefab planning and graybox exports
💡 Greyboxing Best Practices
- Use player-sized prefabs (1.8m capsule, for example) to validate scale
- Color-code elements (e.g., red = obstacle, green = collectible)
- Playtest early and often with teammates and testers
- Document traversal and puzzle flow for each blockout
📬 Final Word
You don’t need high-res art to know if your level feels good. Greyboxing helps developers iterate on feel, layout, and function before investing time into polish.
In 2025, greyboxing is no longer optional — it’s your level designer’s safety net, sanity check, and launchpad for better player experiences.