The player taps the screen to jump and perform tricks (backflips), and works towards goals, competitive high scores, and upgrades.

Snowman, a Toronto-based, three-person indie development team, previously worked on productivity apps before Alto's Adventure.

The game was made to emulate the ethereal atmosphere of snowboarding, and was inspired by Ski Safari (2012), Tiny Wings (2012), Jetpack Joyride (2011), Journey (2012), Monument Valley (2014), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), and Windosill (2009).

Goals include such things as traveling a set distance,[11] rescuing runaway llamas, crossing dangerous gaps, grinding across rooftops of villages, and outsmarting the mountain elders.

[10] The environments of Alto's Adventure change in lighting as time passes through the cycle of the day, and incorporate various weather effects.

[14] Nesbitt has since gone on to found the studio Land & Sea to encompass a growing team of developers that continue to support the game and its sequel.

[10] Snowman's co-founders, Ryan Cash and Jordan Rosenberg,[8] wanted to bring the essence of the Tony Hawk games of their youth into Alto's Adventure, including "fun, positive goals" and an "easy to learn, hard to master" trick system.

As inspired by Monument Valley (2014), the developers chose to charge above average for the game as a trade-off for not including offsets like in-game advertisements or in-app purchases.

While he did not find the game challenging, he enjoyed the "incredible" visuals: "tons of tiny details", like the character animations and changes in lighting and weather, contributed.

[9] Eric Ford, also of TouchArcade, found the gameplay "basic" as well—"not much here that truly innovates within the genre"—but felt that the game was worth experiencing for its "excellent visual style and soundtrack".

Ford predicted that players would respond to Alto's Adventure either in appreciation of its "sheer amount of artistic integrity and nuanced visuals," or in disappointment by its similarity to previous endless runners.

[12] He thought its "stunningly simple" gameplay to be a "compulsive and engaging experience" and "bloody good fun", though he found its core mechanics unoriginal.

[12] Eli Cymet of GameZebo said he wanted to live in the game's world and praised its "total, uncompromising dedication to the atmosphere" and how every choice felt "made to preserve experiential authenticity.