Ascent of Ashes: Everything We Know

When an apocalypse strikes a faraway alien planet, you’re called upon to help rebuild it to the flourishing lands it was once. Wits and strategy will play a significant role as hostile groups seek to destroy your every move. Ascent of Ashes promises to make an impact on the colony simulator space. It’s already gaining speed, with fans pouring in feedback from an Early Access period. 

As we draw closer to launch day, more questions linger, including confirmation on the gameplay, story, release date, and more. The developing team has been constantly in touch, letting us know how the project is coming along. So, if you’re a sucker for survival strategy games, follow along as we unpack all there is to know about the upcoming Ascent of Ashes.

What is Ascent of Ashes?

Ascent of Ashes is an upcoming colony simulator set on a faraway alien planet. It tasks players with rebuilding a nation struck by a devastating apocalyptic event. Threats will come from all angles, whether raiders, aliens, remnant soldiers, or other factions beset on seeing you fail. So, you’ll need to master courage and bolster your defenses, protecting the surviving brood from attack. 

The game is your typical survival venture, where resources are scarce and strategy goes a long way toward staying alive. You’ll need to manage the survivors, fending for their well-being. Using real-time-with-pause combat, you’ll meet any adversary with violence or, alternatively, employ wits to outsmart the opposition. With so much ground to cover, exploring every nook and cranny will open up opportunities to build a flourishing nation from scratch.

Story

While we don’t have much detail on the story, we can at least presume that the game will take place on a post-apocalyptic dystopian alien planet. The main goal is to survive at all costs. How you’ll achieve the end goal is up to you.

Gameplay

Ascent of Ashes will have six key gameplay elements. Let’s unpack them below.

Build a new home

After an apocalypse hits a distant world, you’re tasked with building a new home for the surviving brood. They’ll need a base of operations to rest and interact with one another. Here, you’ll set up camp for farming, taming alien beasts, innovation using salvaged technology, and protection against hostile invaders.

Engage in deep tactical combat

Not everyone in Ascent of Ashes is friendly. At some points, you’ll encounter hostile intruders. So, to protect your thriving nation from harm, you’ll need more tools than a mere point-and-click gameplay system. So, the developing team is working on a detailed hit and health simulation. 

It’ll be so defined that even minimal hits may render a survivor unable to proceed. You’ll use suppressive fire to corner enemies. However, it can come at the cost of using up your ammunition and leaving your people vulnerable to the next attack.

Drive restored vehicles

Since Ascent of Ashes plans to offer vast landscapes to cover, you’ll need vehicles to get from point A to B. Fortunately, the game will allow you to salvage vehicles from the wreckage and restore them to roadworthy standards.

Lead your survivors

The survivors will need someone to lead them to prosperity. So, it’ll be up to you to take the mantle and manage their success. Since each survivor will have a unique personality and motivation, a lot of thought will go into deciding the best way to go. 

Plenty of jobs will open up to run the base smoothly. It’ll be your job to find and recruit the most capable workers. Overall, it'll be up to you to ensure the survivors are happy, safe, and motivated to survive.

Explore a strange new world

The developing team has described the game as “large in scope.” So, you’ll doubtless have to explore all the world has to offer. With procedurally generated areas and expansive biomes sprawling the universe, you’ll explore different points of interest and brace yourself to face any danger that may spring up on you.

Challenge a dynamic AI

Players will take on AI enemy troops, which, according to Steam, “will possess varying degrees of intelligence.” Depending on how organized or trained they are, they'll pose varying degrees of challenge, an aspect that may introduce different flavors to how you approach combat.

Development

The original creators of RimWorld's Combat Extended Mod, developer Vivid Storm Creative, and publisher Camlann Games are preparing to bring Ascent of Ashes to the world. They have already released an Early Access version, and fans have been generously giving feedback. 

At the moment, the Early Access period is closed. Initially, the developers had planned to port the game to a new system after the EA release. This was after experiencing challenges with Unity. However, after community feedback, they decided to make the transition sooner.

The transition will also make room for fixing some features, including a more in-depth tutorial and UI text scaling, as well as polishing the gameplay. Thereafter, the team plans to release constant updates to keep you in the loop. Due to the incoming changes, the previously confirmed November 2023 Early Access release date has been delayed. 

But fans don’t seem to mind at all, with most supporting whatever time it takes to get the game to “a proper beta state or late alpha.”

Trailer

We have a reveal trailer out now. It showcases sneak peeks of the gameplay, including the base building and settlement raids you can expect to see in the final product.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Ascent of Ashes will launch sometime in Q1 of 2024. While we don't have an actual release date, we can confirm that the game will be released on PC platforms via Steam. So, hurry and add it to your wishlist to get a notification as soon as the game drops. No editions are confirmed yet. 

You can always follow the official social handle here for more updates. We’ll also keep our eyes peeled for new information and let you know as soon as they come up.

So, what’s your take? Will you be picking up a copy of Ascent of Ashes when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.