Pride precipitates a dizzying fall in Ascenders, a climbing game spin on Darkest Dungeon

Trading the Torch for the Rope

Ascenders: Beyond The Peak is a new turn-based roguelite in which a bunch of alpine occultists try to recover cursed artefacts from Lovecraftian mountains, before the world ends. Lotta genre references and parallels there, so let me boil it down for you: this appears to be Darkest Dungeon plus gravity.

Darkest Dungeon plus slippery handholds, crumbling rock falls, blizzards, avalanches, anchor points, grappling hooks, and demolition charges. Darkest Dungeon 2 but with the wagoneering bit omitted in favour of a grid-based vertical traversal system. Instead of slumber parties in the catacombs, a Base Camp for crafting, bonding, and tending injuries. Instead of a torch to keep the shadows at bay, a rope stretching between your party members that provides collective security, but also obliges you to make unpleasant choices when somebody loses their grip. Apologies, Mr Highlander. You'll be taking the... more efficient way down.

Seldom has a combination of ideas made such straightforward sense to me, and then we get to the outright cosmic horror elements – the distorted creatures, some lurking inside the rock itself, the "unnatural phenomena", the idea that the mountain itself is alive (and increasingly wakeful), and the deteriorating sanity of your climbers.

Characters come in nine classes, each with bespoke traversal abilities. The aforesaid Highlander is good in a fight, able to shove enemies off the wall, while the Scout can reposition with a grappling hook, and the Sapper excels at blowing stuff up, which sounds like exactly the wrong thing to do on even a non-Lovecraftian mountain. All dangle from the same rope, which "creates unique positioning challenges and opportunities," as developers Ludogram explain. "Secure allies, anchor climbs, pull a companion to safety, though one wrong move can turn rescue into catastrophe".

Everybody is permakillable, needless to say, and even retreating with everybody alive may contribute to a wider catastrophe, as unchecked occult forces consume human society. The mountains themselves span range of biomes, including jungle cliffs with toxic vegetation: the devs say you'll need to think carefully about which peak you tackle when.

Image credit: Twin Sails Interactive

And then there are those cursed artefacts. "Use them on the mountain and risk exposing your climbers to forces that leave lasting trauma," the devs suggest, "or trade them to rival factions: your billionaire employer, the Belay Academy of Science, or the Keepers of an Esoteric Order. Each alliance upgrades your HQ and reshapes the threats ahead."

I think this looks neat! Such eldritch! Much cyclopean! I'm probably getting ahead of myself in my fervour for all things cosmic. Some quibbles, to balance it out: that trailer narrator ain't bad but he's no Wayne June, and the music seems a little underwhelming. I want to watch a proper story trailer that lets the ambience build and is less about bulletpointing features. I also want a change of title. Be honest, you read "Ascenders: Beyond The Peak" and thought it was going to be all clifftop handstands and Patagonia sponsorships. The game isn't out till later 2026, but you can read a little more on Steam.