PERSONAL PROJECT PLATFORMER METROIDVANIA PC

EL ABUELO
UNFOLDED MEMORIES

ORIGINAL GAME CONCEPT

GAME & LEVEL DESIGNER

Every memory is a world waiting to be rebuilt.
Explore the fragmented memories of an old traveler, using magical origami abilities to overcome obstacles, uncover forgotten stories and reconnect the pieces of a lifetime.

CONCEPT &
DESIGN PILLARS

As the creator and designer of EL ABUELO: UNFOLDED MEMORIES, I developed the game concept, its core mechanics, world structure and narrative framework.

The experience is built around three design pillars that connect exploration, origami-based abilities and the reconstruction of fragmented memories.

EXPLORE
DISCOVER HIS MEMORIES

Explore interconnected memory worlds shaped by El Abuelo’s travels. Each environment combines platforming, secrets and environmental storytelling, encouraging curiosity and discovery.

FOLD
TURN ORIGAMI INTO ABILITIES

Collect and use magical origami to transform the way you navigate the world. Each new fold introduces traversal possibilities that open paths and reshape how previous areas can be explored.

REMEMBER
REBUILD A FRAGMENTED PAST

Enter incomplete memories and uncover the missing pieces of El Abuelo’s stories. Exploration gradually reconnects places, events and emotions, revealing the journey behind each memory.

MEMORY WORLDS

El Abuelo’s memories take the form of interconnected worlds inspired by places, journeys and moments from his past. Each one transforms a familiar memory into a larger-than-life environment built around exploration, platforming and the use of origami abilities.

GIANT GARDEN

A CHILDHOOD MEMORY GROWN OUT OF PROPORTION

Vertical Exploration · Origami Traversal · Memory-Driven Scale

A once-familiar garden has become an immense wilderness where flowers rise like trees, roots form natural pathways and everyday objects turn into monumental landmarks.

Built around vertical exploration, Giant Garden introduces the player to the scale and dreamlike logic of El Abuelo’s memories. Origami abilities gradually open new traversal routes, turning the environment into a layered playground of paths, secrets and discoveries.

FLOODEST FESTIVAL

A CELEBRATION SWALLOWED BY THE WATER

Water-Based Traversal · Vertical City Exploration · Memory in Motion

A vibrant festival has been frozen inside a flooded memory. Streets have become canals, decorations drift across the water and familiar architecture emerges between partially submerged plazas and rooftops.

Built around movement between water and architecture, Flooded Festival transforms a joyful celebration into a shifting traversal space. The player navigates across boats, rooftops and floating structures while using origami abilities to find new routes through the submerged city.

ENDLESS RAILWAY

A JOURNEY WITH NO FINAL STOP

Moving Level Design · Shifting Destination · Journey As Memory

An endless railway stretches through a fragmented landscape, carrying the player across places that seem disconnected in space and time. Stations appear and disappear, while the world outside the train constantly shifts between pieces of El Abuelo’s past.

Built around movement and transition, Endless Railway uses the train as both a landmark and a traversal system. Players move between carriages, stations and the surrounding environment, using origami abilities to reach new paths and understand where this impossible journey is leading.

GAMEPLAY FEATURES

EL ABUELO: UNFOLDED MEMORIES combines exploration, platforming and environmental puzzles around a collection of magical origami abilities.

As memories are restored, new abilities expand the player’s movement possibilities and reveal new ways to navigate previously explored spaces, while encounters and hidden fragments gradually uncover El Abuelo’s past.

ORIGAMI ABILITIES

Traversal · Ability Progression · Environmental Puzzles

Origami are at the heart of the player’s progression. Each one provides a distinct ability that changes how the environment can be traversed or manipulated.

New origami expand the player’s movement vocabulary and create opportunities to revisit previous areas, reach hidden paths and solve traversal challenges in different ways.

MEMORY ENCOUNTERS

Narrative Exploration · Environmental Storytelling · Discovery

Memories are not simply told to the player — they are experienced through exploration. Key encounters reveal fragments of El Abuelo’s past through characters, places and moments reconstructed within each world.

These encounters gradually give context to the environments the player explores and transform progression into a process of understanding who El Abuelo was and what he experienced.

INTERCONNECTED MEMORIES

World Structure · Exploration · Metroidvania Progression

Memory Worlds are connected through associations rather than conventional geography. A place, object or sensation can lead naturally from one memory into another, allowing radically different environments to coexist within the same journey.

As new origami abilities are acquired, previously inaccessible routes encourage players to return to earlier memories and discover new connections between them.

SECRETS & DISCOVERY

Optional Exploration · Memory Fragments · Player Curiosity

The main path only reveals part of El Abuelo’s story. Hidden routes, environmental details and optional Memory Fragments reward players who explore beyond the obvious path.

These discoveries provide additional pieces of his life and encourage players to reconstruct a more complete picture of his memories at their own pace.

MISSIONS &
RESPONSIBILITIES

As the creator of EL ABUELO: UNFOLDED MEMORIES, I developed the project from its initial concept into a structured game design vision, defining its core experience, gameplay systems, world structure and narrative framework.

My work focused on ensuring that exploration, origami-based mechanics and storytelling reinforce one another, while building a coherent foundation that could guide future prototyping and production.

Defined the original premise, player fantasy, experience goals and overall identity of the project, establishing the foundations of its gameplay and narrative.
Designed the exploration and platforming loop alongside the origami ability system, defining how new folds expand traversal possibilities and player progression.
Developed the interconnected Memory Worlds, their individual gameplay identities and the principles governing exploration, verticality, secrets and ability-gated progression.

Structured ability acquisition, revisiting and world connectivity to ensure that new origami progressively change how players understand and navigate previously explored memories.
Designed the narrative framework around El Abuelo’s fragmented memories, connecting environments, encounters and discoveries to the reconstruction of his past.
Formalized the concept into a structured Game Design Document, defining pillars, mechanics, progression, world rules, narrative systems and the foundations required for prototyping.

CONCEPT ARTS

Concept explorations illustrating key environments, gameplay mechanics and memorable moments, created to communicate the game vision and support the design process.