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 Companion Preview broadcast.

Let’s begin with a query: what would it not truly really feel prefer 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 means of all the things we’ve constructed.

A Prototype Born from One Small Query

Ascend to Zero began with a really small second. I used to be taking part in a survival roguelike when enemies swarmed in from each path, 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 thought and began constructing a small prototype. Much less about grand design, extra about answering one query: “Would this truly be enjoyable?” In chasing a solution, I had an vital realization — the act of freezing time and letting it movement once more creates a strategic “flip” inside a real-time motion recreation.

I mixed that with a construction I’d at all times liked 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 recreation joined the group one after the other. From there, testing progressively expanded to the group, and we paid shut consideration to what gamers liked and what pissed off them.

The loudest suggestions was concerning the thrill of development. Gamers needed extra highly effective gear and programs that allow them push that gear to its limits. We responded by introducing gear 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 obtained lots of suggestions describing the sport loop as addictive. On the identical time, we observed that some gamers have been dropping off within the early recreation earlier than totally greedy what made it enjoyable, and that was one thing we couldn’t ignore.

After lots of inner 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 recreation you’ll quickly have the ability to 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’ve simply 30 seconds — however with the ability to cease time in your palms, you possibly can flip the tide of any battle, putting 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 system. 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 decisions that demand a call at each flip — each run you full makes the following one richer. Each problem builds towards one thing stronger.

A Small Begin, and What It Turned

Ascend to Zero started with that single query: “What would it not really feel prefer to cease time within the warmth of battle?” That small concept was formed by our group and refined by means of the suggestions of numerous gamers, rising into one thing way more thrilling than the place it began. I imagine 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 Sequence X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud. It is going to be an Xbox Play Anyplace title and obtainable 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 got the ability to control time and struggle your option 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 yr 22XX, humanity constructed an enormous underground Time Lab to grasp time journey. Nevertheless, when the portal to the longer term lastly opened, it wasn’t hope that greeted them—solely despair. A legion of unidentified mechanical monsters poured by means of the portal, laying waste to civilization.
To stop the approaching apocalypse, humanity created the “Chrono Baby”—the one being able to touring again by means of 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 forged the “Chrono Baby” 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 means of time to defeat the monsters and restore a shattered world.