What is the ruling on electronic games, cartoons, and animation films that depict people and make animals and inanimate objects speak, and is it permissible to create characters using graphics software?

It is permissible to play computer games that are free from prohibited elements and music, that do not distract from prayer or an obligatory duty, and that meet the Sharia guidelines. The basic principle is the prohibition of imaging animate beings, but if the imaging is for educational programs free from prohibited elements such as music and indecent images, then there is no harm in that.