Info about Ascent of Ashes:

Official game description:
Build your survivors a base where they can rest and trade stories between adventures. Farm crops, tame alien beasts, incorporate salvaged technology and fortify your home against hostile intruders
Prevailing in combat will require more than just point-and-click. A detailed hit simulation and health system will mean that even non-lethal hits can render a survivor unable to go on. Suppressive fire might pin an enemy in place, but the ammunition used up may leave you ill-equipped to fight the next encounter effectively
It's a big world out there. To get around you will need better transportation than your legs can provide. One of the things setting Ascent of Ashes apart from other games of this genre is the ability to restore and drive vehicles.
Each survivor has their own unique personality and motivations. As colony leader it is up to you to find and recruit capable survivors to fill gaps in your roster against ever increasing challenges. Can you keep everyone happy, secure and motivated?
You will find yourself in an expansive, procedurally generated world filled with different biomes and points of interest. To survive the post-apocalypse you'll have to brave the pre-collapse ruins and the many dangers that they hold.
It's not enough to just have an in-depth combat system with a variety of mechanics. You also need opponents capable of using those mechanics to challenge you. Enemies will possess varying degrees of intelligence. Taking on a disorganized band of raiders will play very differently from fighting a squad of well-trained Remnant soldiers.
Combining the deep simulation of classic post-apocalyptical survival titles with the tactical challenge of classic real time and turn-based gems, the original creators of RimWorld's heralded **Combat Extended** mod present a fresh take on the colony sim genre that emphasizes exploration, tight balance and strategic gameplay.
Our team has its roots in mod-making and we've been fortunate to have been part of many great modding communities over the years. That's why with Ascent of Ashes, we want to give something back to those communities. We're building the game's engine from the ground up to be easily extendable, and thanks to our extensive experience in creating mods ourselves we know exactly what kind of support mod-makers need. Ascent of Ashes is a game developed by modders, for modders.

Release date: 25 Jul, 2025

Categories: Colony Simulation, Base Building, Character Management, Real-time Combat, Tactical Combat, Survival, Open-World Exploration, Mod Support


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- High potential for future growth (weight 0.85): Players consistently highlight the game's immense potential, especially for an Early Access title. They believe it has a strong foundation and can evolve into a top-tier colony simulation game, potentially rivaling genre leaders.
- Responsive and dedicated developers (weight 0.62): The development team is highly praised for their responsiveness, transparency, and dedication. Players appreciate the rapid bug fixes, frequent updates, and open communication, which instills confidence in the game's future.
- Unique 3D Rimworld alternative (weight 0.4): The game is frequently compared to Rimworld, often seen as a 3D alternative with a more combat-focused approach. Players appreciate its unique blend of features from various colony sims and its intuitive controls for genre veterans.
- Appealing art style and graphics (weight 0.17): The game's art style and overall graphical design receive positive feedback. Players find the visuals pleasant, well-executed, and believe the chosen style will age gracefully.
- Engaging and fun gameplay (weight 0.14): Despite being in Early Access, players find the game engaging and enjoyable, offering a good amount of content and replayability. They report having fun and getting absorbed as they discover its systems.
- Good value for Early Access (weight 0.13): Players generally agree that the game is worth its Early Access price, considering its current state and future potential. They see it as a functional and promising title for its stage of development.
- Excellent multi-level building (weight 0.05): The implementation of a Z-level building system, allowing for multi-story structures and vertical combat, is a highly appreciated feature that adds depth to gameplay.

Common complaints:
- Numerous Game-Breaking Bugs (weight 0.99): Players report a high number of critical bugs, including game-breaking issues like corrupted saves, characters getting stuck in loops, and frequent crashes. These bugs severely hinder playability and lead to frustration.
- Unfinished and Lacks Content (weight 0.86): The game is widely perceived as unfinished and lacking in core content and features, even for an Early Access title. Many players feel it was released prematurely and needs significant development to be a complete and enjoyable experience.
- Missing Quality of Life Features (weight 0.68): The game is missing many fundamental quality-of-life features, including basic settings like resolution and keybinds, effective UI for resource monitoring, and essential hotkeys for common actions.
- Poor Colonist Control (weight 0.66): The control scheme for colonists is clunky and unintuitive. Issues include the inability to drag-select multiple colonists, difficulty in assigning specific tasks, and colonists getting stuck or not responding to commands.
- No Tutorial or Guidance (weight 0.62): A significant complaint is the complete absence of any tutorial or in-game guidance. New players, especially those unfamiliar with similar colony-sim games, struggle to understand basic mechanics and progression.
- Inferior to Similar Titles (weight 0.59): The game is frequently compared to Rimworld and Going Medieval, often unfavorably. Players feel it lacks the depth, polish, and quality-of-life features present in its inspirations, leading to disappointment.
- Poor Performance and Lag (weight 0.52): Despite seemingly low graphical demands, the game suffers from poor optimization, leading to frequent lag spikes, stuttering, and freezing, even on high-end systems.
- Broken Expedition System (weight 0.5): The expedition system is buggy and often non-functional, leading to pawns getting stuck, attacking unnecessarily, or breaking the game, making this feature unreliable.
- Poor Initial Experience (weight 0.5): The initial experience of launching and starting the game is often problematic, with issues like multiple startups required, off-screen displays, and immediate stuttering or freezing.
- Restrictive Building Mechanics (weight 0.49): Building mechanics are restrictive, particularly concerning multi-story structures. Players cannot build on upper floors or use ladders effectively, and demolition can be overly destructive.
- Awkward Camera Controls (weight 0.49): Camera controls are problematic, with no option to rotate the camera or adjust its speed, leading to an awkward and frustrating viewing experience.

Gameplay feedback:
- Strong Rimworld resemblance (weight 0.31): The game is frequently compared to Rimworld, often described as a 3D version or an early alpha/beta of it. While it shares core colony management systems, players note it's currently less developed and has a distinct focus on expeditions.
- Manual task assignment (weight 0.07): Players need to manually assign tasks and manage survivor priorities, as colonists don't automatically take on jobs or have 'nothing' assigned by default.
- Unique Z-axis and vision (weight 0.06): A distinct feature of the game is its implementation of a Z-axis and a vision system, which adds a unique dimension to the gameplay compared to similar 2D titles.
- Limited early farming (weight 0.04): Initial farming options are limited to berries and cactus, with potatoes and flax becoming available only after research.
- Interface lacks hotkeys (weight 0.04): The user interface currently lacks essential hotkeys for various actions, making navigation and interaction less efficient and intuitive.
- No trait descriptions (weight 0.02): There are no in-game descriptions for character traits, making it difficult for players to understand their effects and make informed decisions.
- Scattered building menus (weight 0.02): Menus for building elements like flooring, roofing, structures, and furniture are scattered, leading to a less organized and efficient building experience.
- No mod workshop (weight 0.02): The game currently lacks a workshop for mods, limiting community-driven content and customization options.
- Post-apocalyptic setting (weight 0.02): The game's setting is post-apocalyptic, but the world appears surprisingly intact, which might be a narrative inconsistency or a specific design choice.
- Difficult game start (weight 0.02): Players found the initial stages of the game to be challenging, indicating a potentially steep learning curve or difficult starting conditions.
- Disjointed game systems (weight 0.02): Many of the game's systems do not interact with each other, leading to a disjointed experience where mechanics feel isolated rather than integrated.
- Slow game tempo (weight 0.02): The overall tempo of the game is perceived as slow, which might affect player engagement and progression speed.
- Prioritize Quality of Life (weight 0.02): Developers are encouraged to prioritize Quality of Life features, such as displaying material counts, to improve the user experience.
- Larger tech tree needed (weight 0.02): Players desire a larger and more expansive technology tree to provide more long-term goals and progression.
- Better combat strategy needed (weight 0.02): There is a need for more intuitive and effective combat strategy abilities to enhance the tactical depth of engagements.
- Intuitive recruit system needed (weight 0.02): Players are looking for a more intuitive method to acquire new recruits, suggesting the current system is unclear or cumbersome.
- Detailed combat system (weight 0.02): The game's unique selling point is identified as its detailed loadout and combat system, suggesting a focus on tactical engagements.
- Combat survival focus (weight 0.02): The game's content leans more towards combat survival, indicating a stronger emphasis on fighting and resource gathering through conflict.
- Enemy attacks cease (weight 0.02): A specific bug or design flaw was noted where enemies cease to attack after the first recruit is obtained, impacting combat progression.
- Auto-pickup new expeditions (weight 0.02): A quality of life suggestion is for expeditions to automatically queue up new ones upon completion, streamlining resource gathering.
- Character editor requested (weight 0.02): Players requested a character editor at the start of a new game for customization.
- Pawn animations present (weight 0.02): The game features pawn animations, contributing to the visual fidelity and character representation.
- Core game loop exists (weight 0.02): Despite its early state, the fundamental core gameplay loop is present and functional, providing a basic foundation for future development.
- Proper windowed mode (weight 0.02): The game supports a proper windowed mode, offering flexibility for display preferences.
- Distinct 3D art style (weight 0.02): The game has a distinct 3D art style and aesthetic, setting it apart visually.
- Priority adjustment differs (weight 0.02): The method for adjusting priority (right-click to decrease, left-click to increase) is different from other colony simulators, which might be a minor usability issue.
- Solid game concept (weight 0.02): The underlying concept of the game is considered solid and present, indicating potential for future development.
- Expedition loot preview (weight 0.02): Expeditions provide a preview of the loot types to be expected, which is a helpful feature for planning.
- Limited character moodles (weight 0.02): Character moodles are currently limited to basic needs like hunger, comfort, and sleep, suggesting a lack of deeper psychological simulation.
- Ammo is important (weight 0.02): Ammo is noted as an important resource, highlighting its role in the game's combat and resource management.
- Minimal starting resources (weight 0.02): Players begin the game with minimal resources ('sticks and trauma'), emphasizing a challenging survival start.
- Similar to Timber and Stone (weight 0.01): The game has been compared to 'Timber and Stone' by one reviewer, suggesting a similar feel or gameplay style.
- Compares to Rimworld's early state (weight 0.01): A comparison is made to Rimworld's early unstable state, implying that the current game's issues are typical for an early access title.
- Unusual trade dynamics (weight 0.01): An unusual trade dynamic allows players to exchange basic items like potatoes for advanced weaponry, which might be an imbalance or a unique feature.

Performance notes:
- Poor game performance and optimization (weight 0.16): Many players are experiencing significant performance issues, including stuttering and fluctuating frame rates, even on high-end systems. This is particularly noticeable in certain areas like forests, and while some acknowledge it's Early Access, they emphasize the need for optimization.
- Stable performance for some users (weight 0.05): Some players report a smooth experience with no major crashes or frame drops, indicating that performance issues are not universal and may depend on specific hardware configurations.

Recommendations:
- Support developers; game has potential (weight 0.87): A significant portion of the community expresses a desire to support the developers and the game's potential. They are willing to be patient and hope the game will improve over time, often buying it as an investment in its future.
- Game is unfinished; wait to buy (weight 0.78): Many players feel the game is not a finished product and advise against immediate purchase for a complete experience. They suggest waiting for significant updates and fixes before buying or playing.
- Avoid review bombing (weight 0.13): Some players urge others not to engage in review bombing, believing it harms the game's chances of success. They advocate for an open mind and constructive feedback.
- Good for colony sim fans (weight 0.12): Players who enjoy colony simulation games, especially those familiar with 'Rimworld' or its 'Combat Extended' mod, are more likely to recommend the game. However, some warn that it's not a direct 'Rimworld 2.0' and may disappoint those expecting it.

Other player notes:
- Very early access state (weight 0.6): The game is currently in a very early, unpolished state, resembling an alpha or proof-of-concept build. It requires significant development time, content additions, and bug fixes to reach a more complete and enjoyable experience.
- Major development hurdles (weight 0.17): The development team has faced significant challenges, including financial struggles, a publisher defaulting on them, and being forced to switch game engines (from Unity to Godot), requiring them to rebuild the game from scratch.
- Developer inexperience noted (weight 0.06): Some players acknowledge the developers' inexperience, which has led to certain issues. However, they believe the developers deserve a chance to iron out these problems and improve the game.
- Premature negative reviews (weight 0.03): Some reviewers, who typically do not write negative reviews, feel that current negative feedback is premature given the game's very early stage of development.
- Considering refund (weight 0.03): One reviewer is considering a refund due to a potentially isolated issue, suggesting their experience might be an anomaly rather than a widespread problem.
- Genre familiarity (weight 0.03): The game reminds one reviewer of Stonehearth, and the reviewer identifies as an experienced player of survival/colony builder games.

Emotions:
- Hope (weight 0.25): Players express hope primarily due to the game's perceived future potential, anticipating new content, updates, and improvements. This sentiment is often tied to the developers' reputation and the belief that the game will evolve significantly from its current state, especially for titles in early access.
- Frustration (weight 0.17): Frustration stems from the game's current unpolished state, characterized by numerous technical issues such as bugs, stuttering, and crashes. Players are also frustrated by missing quality-of-life features, poor UI, inadequate tutorials, and clunky controls, which hinder the gameplay experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.16): Disappointment arises from the game's current lack of content, unfinished features, and overall unpolished state, which often falls short of player expectations for an Early Access title. This includes issues like unplayability, missing promised features, and a general feeling that the game is a 'waiting simulator' rather than a complete experience.
- Support (weight 0.08): Players show support for the developers and their vision for the game, driven by a desire for the project to succeed. This often reflects a belief in the developers' efforts and commitment to improving the game.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): Satisfaction is derived from the game's art style, animations, and core ideas, as well as the developers' responsiveness to feedback and consistent efforts in patching bugs. Players appreciate the progress made and find enjoyment in the game despite its early access state.
- Excitement (weight 0.04): Excitement is generated by the game's potential for future development, including upcoming features and content outlined in the roadmap. Players are enthusiastic about the game's growth and its prospects for becoming a high-quality title.
- Optimism (weight 0.03): Optimism is fueled by the developers' strong work ethic, commitment to the game, and consistent responsiveness to player feedback and updates. This suggests a belief in the game's future improvement based on the developers' actions.
- Anticipation (weight 0.02): Anticipation is focused on future updates, new features, and the game's full launch, driven by the developers' vision and the game's potential. Players are looking forward to seeing the game evolve and grow.
- Patience (weight 0.02): Players express patience due to the game's early development stage, understanding that improvements and new content will come with time and future patches. This reflects a willingness to wait for the game to mature.
- Concern (weight 0.02): Concern arises from the game's current bug-ridden and dull state, coupled with worries about potential abandonment by the developers or financial struggles. There is also concern about the impact of negative reviews on the game's future.
- Understanding (weight 0.02): Players demonstrate understanding of the challenges faced by indie game developers, including financial hardships and the rationale behind a rushed Early Access release. This acknowledges the complexities of game development.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Confusion stems from unclear game mechanics, a lack of proper tutorials, and issues with specific hardware compatibility. Players struggle to understand how certain features work or why the game behaves unexpectedly.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.01): Enjoyment is derived from the game's intuitive controls, unique gameplay features, and overall appearance. Players find the core gameplay experience to be fun and engaging.
- Trust (weight 0.01): Trust is placed in the developers' commitment to their vision and their transparency throughout the development process. Players believe in the developers' integrity and dedication to the game.
- Love (weight 0.01): Players express love for the game's overall concept and its base version, appreciating it despite its early and unfinished state. This indicates a strong affection for the game's fundamental ideas.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is caused by the perceived waste of money due to the game's current state and its asking price. Some anger is also directed at other gamers for what are considered unrealistic expectations or negative reviews.
- Advocacy (weight 0.01): Players engage in advocacy by defending the game and its developers against negative reviews and unfair criticism. This reflects a strong desire for the game to succeed and be nurtured.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is directed towards the game's existence despite its development challenges and the developers' impressive work rate. Players appreciate the effort put into creating the game.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Caution is advised due to the game's current early access state and its early stage of development. Players recommend approaching the game with awareness of its unfinished nature.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation is shown for the developers' responsiveness, the game's visuals, and the significant effort put in by a small development team. Players value the work done on the game.}