Ascend to Zero – Introducing This Distinctive Time-Bending Roguelike

I’m thrilled to disclose the Xbox model of Ascend to Zero, a time-bending motion roguelike from Flyway Video games that was a part of final week’s Xbox Accomplice Preview broadcast.

Let’s begin with a query: what wouldn’t it really really feel wish to cease time within the warmth of battle? That single concept is the place Ascend to Zero started — and it’s the thread that runs by every part we’ve constructed.

A Prototype Born from One Small Query

Ascend to Zero began with a really small second. I used to be enjoying a survival roguelike when enemies swarmed in from each route, slicing off each potential escape route. In that instantaneous, one thought crossed my thoughts: “What if I may cease time, only for a second?”

Just a few days later, I revisited the concept and began constructing a small prototype. Much less about grand design, extra about answering one query: “Would this really be enjoyable?” In chasing a solution, I had an necessary realization — the act of freezing time and letting it move once more creates a strategic “flip” inside a real-time motion sport.

I mixed that with a construction I’d at all times beloved from Inflation RPG: explosive development packed inside restricted alternatives. That’s how the primary prototype ofAscend to Zero got here collectively.

The Enjoyable, Formed by Participant Voices

It didn’t take lengthy to hit the bounds of constructing alone. I began by asking associates and colleagues to play, and those who noticed the potential on this sport joined the group one after the other. From there, testing regularly expanded to the neighborhood, and we paid shut consideration to what gamers beloved and what pissed off them.

The loudest suggestions was concerning the thrill of development. Gamers needed extra highly effective gear and programs that permit them push that gear to its limits. We responded by introducing tools units past the mythic tier, over 200 new objects, and three brand-new enhancement programs.

Many gamers responded positively to the time-bending idea, and we acquired loads of suggestions describing the sport loop as addictive. On the similar time, we seen that some gamers have been dropping off within the early sport earlier than absolutely greedy what made it enjoyable, and that was one thing we couldn’t ignore.

After loads of inside dialogue, we decided: don’t make gamers watch for the most effective components. We redesigned the early expertise from the bottom up in order that gamers may really feel what makes Ascend to Zero particular from the second they begin: time-bending and explosive development.

Save the World in 30 Seconds

All of which leads us to the ultimate sport you’ll quickly be capable of play. It’s 2225, and humanity has been dropped at extinction by a mechanical invasion. Because the final survivor, you’ll journey again in time to rewrite that destiny.

You will have simply 30 seconds — however with the ability to cease time in your fingers, you possibly can flip the tide of any battle, hanging down highly effective enemies to maintain reclaiming time your self. Not passive survival, however an lively breakthrough, that’s the core expertise Ascend to Zero is constructed to ship.

A New Sort of Motion Roguelike

Ascend to Zero is the results of years of improvement and testing, and it goes past the roguelike formulation. Stats inflate at a staggering tempo, and the satisfaction of watching your numbers climb by orders of magnitude delivers an RPG-style sense of accomplishment that almost all roguelikes merely can’t match.

Layer on prime of that the spectacular talent results cascading throughout a high-quality pixel artwork world, fast-paced fight, and strategic gear selections that demand a call at each flip — each run you full makes the subsequent one richer. Each problem builds towards one thing stronger.

A Small Begin, and What It Grew to become

Ascend to Zero started with that single query: “What wouldn’t it really feel wish to cease time within the warmth of battle?” That small concept was formed by our group and refined by the suggestions of numerous gamers, rising into one thing much more thrilling than the place it began. I consider that is the ability of indie video games. New concepts at all times begin small — however that smallness can sharpen them into one thing extra centered, extra distinct, and extra enjoyable.

Ascend to Zero launches July 13, 2026, on Xbox Collection X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud. It is going to be an Xbox Play Wherever title and out there day one with Xbox Sport Move. Add it to your wishlist now, and prepare to bend time to save lots of the world.

Ascend to ZERO

Flyway Video games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

[Game Overview]
Ascend to ZERO is a time-bending roguelike the place you’ve the ability to govern time and combat your strategy to the highest. Play as distinctive avatars, wield highly effective weapons and objects, and expertise fast-paced development as your construct evolves with each run.

[Story]
Within the 12 months 22XX, humanity constructed an enormous underground Time Lab to grasp time journey. Nonetheless, when the portal to the long run lastly opened, it wasn’t hope that greeted them—solely despair. A legion of unidentified mechanical monsters poured by the portal, laying waste to civilization.
To stop the upcoming apocalypse, humanity created the “Chrono Youngster”—the one being able to touring again by time. The mechanical legion raided the lab on the day of her awakening—as if that they had foreseen her start. In a determined try, the lab’s director solid the “Chrono Youngster” right into a rift in time to save lots of her from the invading machines.
Now stranded in a ruined future along with her recollections fragmented, she stands because the final survivor. With the assistance of a mysterious aide, she should embark on a journey again by time to defeat the monsters and restore a shattered world.