Naked Sneak
2025 | Unreal Engine 5 | Unreal Fellowship: games
This is the project I developed during the 2025 Unreal Fellowship: Games. It draws inspiration from classic arcade titles like Ms. Pac-Man and Bomberman 64, as well as stealth-action games such as Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell, and a dash of GoldenEye 007.
The game will be featured at Unreal Fest 2025 in Orlando, where it will be playable on an actual arcade cabinet. This setup was a key part of my design direction, I wanted the game to feel like a true old-school arcade experience and bring that sense of nostalgia to players.
My main design goal was to create a stealth game where you don’t have the luxury of time. Instead of slow and methodical movement, players are encouraged to keep moving, think on their feet, and improvise as they explore, doing their best to avoid alerting too many guards along the way.
The Game Cycle
The game is designed as a true old-school arcade experience. I wanted to replicate that nostalgic gameplay loop from the late '90s and early 2000s.
The core loop revolves around collecting pickups to increase your score, add more time to the clock or open doors and paths.
Taking damage, on the other hand, not only reduces your time immediately but also adds to a "damage queue",
a mechanic that causes your timer to drain faster over time.
This creates space for tense, last-second comebacks and clutch moments.
Taking damage, on the other hand, not only reduces your time immediately but also adds to a "damage queue",
a mechanic that causes your timer to drain faster over time.
This creates space for tense, last-second comebacks and clutch moments.
I go into more detail about these design choices in the Dev Diary, link in a button at the bottom of the page!
The Level
For the level design, I kind of went for a bit of a "guitar solo."
I built a semi-open layout based on a 4-box grid to create a strong flow, then layered in verticality and secret passages, so the more you explore, the denser and more interconnected the space becomes.
The entire level was designed around the Dive-Roll mechanic, so as players master it, new paths and big shortcuts start to reveal themselves. It rewards skill and experimentation with cool tricks and faster routes!
Dev Diary
I documented my entire journey, design choices and challenges in a week-by-week dev diary while I was creating the game.
And you can check the whole journeyclicking the button bellow.