Lovecraftian horrors and hard choices in roguelite climber Ascenders

Climbing games have become a trend, and Ascenders: Beyond the Peak was outlined at the PC Gaming Show by the creative director of developer Ludogram. You build a team and plan a route up a deadly mountain, but the ascent is far from simple—monsters, Lovecraftian horrors and the mountain itself will try to stop you reaching the summit.

Play involves nine classes with different mobility and abilities, all connected by a single rope; a lagging teammate can be cut loose. You can also use gravity as a weapon, dropping rocks or weapons to send enemies tumbling and potentially score multi-kills. Movement takes place on a grid, with warnings for environmental hazards such as avalanches and explosive radii.

A base camp feature lets you choose which mountains to climb, who to take and what gear to bring. Rest stops up the mountain offer recovery, but classes improve at different rates, so you may still end up taking weakened teammates and having to make brutal decisions on the way up.

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