Designing spaces
that feel alive.

I'm Mateo Mancera, a Lead Level Designer based in Bogotá, Colombia. I've spent over four years at C2 Game Studio shipping games, leading the level design of Astor: Blade of the Monolith (Versus Evil / tinyBuild, 2024) across PC, PS5, Xbox and Switch, and currently working on Crimson Moon, a gothic souls-like co-developed with ProbablyMonsters.

Videogames have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It started with interactive CDs my mom used to put on for me, then Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, Metal Slug, Harry Potter: games that felt like entire worlds. But the moment I became obsessed with understanding how they worked was the first God of War. I'd replay sections just to find the triggers, trace the patrol routes, figure out how the designers had shaped my experience without me noticing.

Then came Bloodborne. That game was my real eureka: a masterclass in what level design can be. The way Yharnam folds back on itself, the way every corner tells a story, the way Upper Cathedral Ward generates absolute dread through nothing but atmosphere, lighting, and silence. I've never felt anything quite like it. That's the standard I carry into every project I work on.

What I love most about this craft is the moment after a playtest, when I can see clearly which parts of the level are working and which aren't. There's something deeply satisfying about knowing the final version is already in there somewhere. I just have to find it. When things click and the level starts designing itself, that's my favorite feeling in this work.

I design levels I'd want to play myself. I test them obsessively, and I still get excited every time something lands exactly the way I planned it. Outside of work, I'm into comics, board games, card games and puzzles. I'm a lifelong Mega Man and Spider-Man fan. I live with my girlfriend and our two dogs in Bogotá.