Patch 1.3

Welcome to our biggest Patch for Ascend!

This update brings a lovely milestone for the end of the year, Steam Achievements! They are now live, so you can finally show off your mastery of puzzles and starsigns. We’ve also been hammering through quality of life bugs across the board to smooth out progression, tighten the story flow, and make the journey feel that bit more magical from start to finish.

And because it’s the season for spoiling yourselves silly, Ascend is 25% off for the duration of the Steam Winter Sale until 5 January. Perfect time to rope in a mate or that cousin who insists they’re “good at logic and puzzles!”

General

• Achievements added to the game

• Collectable placements within the game have been altered slightly

• Added dusk secrets to the levels

• ‘Skip Cutscene’ prompt stays after not skipping

• Tied the Time Turner unlock conditions to journal entries

• We now allow the player to pet the fox monkeys

Save & Settings

• The save system has been updated, so when the player collects a collectible it saves correctly

• ESC didn't unpause the game - ESC should exit the journal

Interact bugs

• Aurora has been placed closer to the yaks on interacting with them

• Yak interaction issue was still present when you interacted with them. It meant you time travelled to somewhere else in the level.

• Inspect UI had a description button is overlapping

• No inspection was on the Twilight flower tutorial

Tutorial Puzzle

• Only have the flowers appear after the player has completed the Twilight block tutorial

• Flowers are now more noticeable to the player

• Time Turner tutorial popped when picking up the Carnation

• Player could climb over the wall near the gate from tutorial area into main fire area

• Tutorial flowers in the water were too high

Aries Puzzle

• We gave the player the power of the Sun after completing the puzzle

• Adjusted the yak positioning when it hits the Gaia statue

• Player could move blocks before they appear

• Missions not updating after interacting with the Helle statue

• Colours on blocks weren't distinct enough

• Yak could be seen floating after ramming the Gaia statue

• Twilight shard needed replacing with Aries puzzle book

• Gaia and Helle statues needed clearer direction

Leo Puzzle

• Player could pick up the Sun planet before completing the puzzle

• Replaced Twilight shard with the correct item

Cancer Puzzle

• Moons were too big and need resizing

• A random Aurora was in the world

Virgo Puzzle

• Updated Virgo quest prompt from Chrysanthemum to Astraea’s Aster

• Improved interaction and messaging with the Astraea statue

Sagittarius Puzzle

• “Between the Stars” book title is too long

• Chiron's title is too long

• Added the exit to the Sagittarius castle leading to the level end

That’s everything for now! We hope you have a peaceful, joy filled holiday break and get plenty of time to play far too many games (including this one). Thank you so much for being part of Ascend ’s journey this year. It's been great to see Ascend grow.

We’re incredibly excited for what’s ahead and can’t wait to share more with you in 2026. Until then, take care, enjoy the rest of the year and we’ll see you on the mountain. Nareice