Ken Wong, lead designer of ustwo's Monument Valley, has returned to his native Australia to found a new Melbourne-based studio called Mountains.

Described by Wong as a "craft games studio," its aim is to develop small but creative premium mobile games.

"I'm excited to be drawing from all my experiences across different roles in order to build a more creative and healthier type of games company," says Wong.

"We're starting by putting people first. Great work will follow from that."

Three's company

Kamina Vincent, formerly of digital gamebook developer Tin Man Games, will be joining as Producer, and recent graduate Sam Crisp completes the three-person team as Programmer.

Mountains will be based out of The Arcade, a vibrant co-working space that more than 30 Melbourne games companies - most notably Crossy Road developer Hipster Whale - call home.

"Having so many games companies under the one roof has been such a benefit to Mountains in this startup phase," enthuses Vincent.

"There is no better place in the world to be making games. Everyone has been incredibly generous with creative, technical and emotional support. We're thrilled to be able to benefit from, and contribute to that".

Work on Mountains' first title, a premium mobile game due in 2017, has already begun.