Ascend to Zero, a new isometric roguelike from Flyway Games, has launched on Xbox Series X and Windows PC, and is also available via Xbox Game Pass. Polygon's early impressions single it out as a standout entry in the "auto-battler" genre popularised by Vampire Survivors, praising the inventive twists it brings to a familiar format.

The game centres on a "30 seconds to save the world" premise: players start each run with a 30-second timer that can be extended by defeating enemies, alongside an ability to stop time. Set in a future where humanity is overrun by interdimensional monsters, the player controls a scientist thrust into a time machine by sacrificing colleagues, creating a repeating-loop narrative. The game draws inspiration from Vampire Survivors' automatic combat, Supergiant Games' Hades and Transistor, and Bandai Namco's Scarlet Nexus, and features randomised weapons, equipment loadouts and a notably complex system of multiple in-game currencies for unlocking avatars, upgrades and stat boosts. It was released on 13 July.