Alemos: The Mist of the Mountain

Role: Game Designer - Systems, Narrative & UX

"On the island of Alemos, a fisherman adventurer explores wild lands to defeat the evil that plagues the surroundings. Behind his heroic quest lies an ancient secret, buried in the depths of time and sealed atop a forgotten mountain..."

Alemos is a 3D adventure game where I focus on Game Design - Systems Design, Narrative Design, UX and prototyping. Started in July 2024 as a team of three, we are now a core team of 7 with the goal of delivering a vertical slice by the end of the year.

The fishing rod as a player extension

The main character is a fisherman - and rather than treating the fishing rod as a simple narrative accessory, I wanted to explore how far we could extrapolate its capabilities in a fictional universe. The idea isn't to simulate fishing, but to play on the contrast between an everyday tool and what it becomes in the hands of an adventurer.

In practice, this translated into a grappling system - inspired by Sekiro and Clair-Obscur: Expedition 33 - that leverages the character's natural affordance. The goal is to bring fluid verticality to exploration without betraying the coherence of who he is.

That said, mobility isn't an end in itself. I rely on environmental storytelling and surgical placement of grapple points to leave the player spaces for introspection and contemplation.

What technical work unlocks on the design side

I work in close partnership with a programmer - a relationship where feedback flows both ways. One good example: we developed together a camera system enabling a transition between a 3D third-person view and a 2.5D view for specific gameplay moments. It wasn't in the original plan, but what it gave me is invaluable: freedom from technical constraints to focus entirely on the player-side feel.

This kind of exchange defines our dynamic - technical constraints becoming design opportunities, and design intentions shaping implementation choices.

What the vertical slice needs to prove

Our vertical slice isn't there to impress - it's there to validate. Three core questions guide its construction:

• Does the locomotion kit genuinely convey the feeling of playing a skilled character?
• What environment size is necessary for exploration to feel meaningful?
• Are the current level design ingredients sufficient to reach the intended experience?

These are questions only the game can answer - and that's exactly why we're building it.

Narrative & cryptic lore

The secret at the heart of Alemos doesn't directly influence the game systems yet - it unfolds through the player's narrative journey and interactions with characters, delivering lore in a cryptic way.