Crystal Ascend Playtest – Limited Access Now Open! Come apply to join.
Hey everyone, this is Zodiac GameLab. The Playtest version of my incremental game Crystal Ascend is ready! View on Steam Let me briefly explain the gameplay. You start with an absorption ring, controlled by your mouse.
In this update1
Full notes
Full Crystal Ascend update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
Repeated intro
Hey everyone, this is Zodiac GameLab. The Playtest version of my incremental game Crystal Ascend is ready!
What changed
1 fix4 additions0 changes0 removals
Gameplay
Balance
fixedLet me briefly explain the gameplay. You start with an absorption ring, controlled by your mouse. Aim at the floating crystals, “smack!” – the crystal shatters, aether flows out, and is absorbed by the large crystal in the center. You don’t need to click the mouse; the absorption ring attacks automatically at a fixed frequency. The large central crystal is your elemental Crystal Sprite. Your main goal is to keep breaking crystals, collecting aether, and feeding it until it’s full!
addedEach round gives you limited time to collect aether. When time runs out, the Crystal Sprite falls asleep (kids need their sleep to grow – perfectly normal). At that point, you can spend the aether you’ve collected to upgrade the tech tree. There are many upgrade nodes, such as increasing the absorption ring’s range, attack power, attack frequency, and so on. In the mid‑to‑late game, there are also plenty of corrupted crystals with special effects. When broken, their special effects can trigger chain reactions. So this game is not just about pure numerical growth – the real joy lies in unlocking new mechanics!
addedUnlocking the entire skill tree in the Playtest version takes about 40–50 minutes. Unlike some incremental games that pad the skill tree with time‑wasting nodes to stretch the experience beyond two hours, my design philosophy is to keep the upgrade process constantly fresh. Therefore, the playtime for a single run won’t change much from the current version. In the full release, after fully feeding one Crystal Sprite, you’ll get a system similar to “rebirth” that resets the skill tree. But this reset isn’t just replaying the same thing – it completely transforms into a new playstyle! For example, the current version is a complete Dark element build. In the full version, after rebirthing, you can switch to the Lightning element, and the entire skill tree’s nodes and mechanics will be thoroughly renewed! So the full version focuses on variety – more content, same price!
addedAbout this GameA simple incremental game where you nurture crystal elementals by destroying floating crystals and harvesting aether. Upgrade the skill tree, unlock new abilities to gather resources faster, and build your ultimate crystal companions.
addedAbout this GameIf you’re interested, feel free to add to wishlist 😊
Crystal Ascend changes
fixedLet me briefly explain the gameplay. You start with an absorption ring, controlled by your mouse. Aim at the floating crystals, “smack!” – the crystal shatters, aether flows out, and is absorbed by the large crystal in the center. You don’t need to click the mouse; the absorption ring attacks automatically at a fixed frequency. The large central crystal is your elemental Crystal Sprite. Your main goal is to keep breaking crystals, collecting aether, and feeding it until it’s full!
addedEach round gives you limited time to collect aether. When time runs out, the Crystal Sprite falls asleep (kids need their sleep to grow – perfectly normal). At that point, you can spend the aether you’ve collected to upgrade the tech tree. There are many upgrade nodes, such as increasing the absorption ring’s range, attack power, attack frequency, and so on. In the mid‑to‑late game, there are also plenty of corrupted crystals with special effects. When broken, their special effects can trigger chain reactions. So this game is not just about pure numerical growth – the real joy lies in unlocking new mechanics!
addedUnlocking the entire skill tree in the Playtest version takes about 40–50 minutes. Unlike some incremental games that pad the skill tree with time‑wasting nodes to stretch the experience beyond two hours, my design philosophy is to keep the upgrade process constantly fresh. Therefore, the playtime for a single run won’t change much from the current version. In the full release, after fully feeding one Crystal Sprite, you’ll get a system similar to “rebirth” that resets the skill tree. But this reset isn’t just replaying the same thing – it completely transforms into a new playstyle! For example, the current version is a complete Dark element build. In the full version, after rebirthing, you can switch to the Lightning element, and the entire skill tree’s nodes and mechanics will be thoroughly renewed! So the full version focuses on variety – more content, same price!
addedA simple incremental game where you nurture crystal elementals by destroying floating crystals and harvesting aether. Upgrade the skill tree, unlock new abilities to gather resources faster, and build your ultimate crystal companions.
addedIf you’re interested, feel free to add to wishlist 😊
Let me briefly explain the gameplay. You start with an absorption ring, controlled by your mouse. Aim at the floating crystals, “smack!” – the crystal shatters, aether flows out, and is absorbed by the large crystal in the center. You don’t need to click the mouse; the absorption ring attacks automatically at a fixed frequency. The large central crystal is your elemental Crystal Sprite. Your main goal is to keep breaking crystals, collecting aether, and feeding it until it’s full!
Each round gives you limited time to collect aether. When time runs out, the Crystal Sprite falls asleep (kids need their sleep to grow – perfectly normal). At that point, you can spend the aether you’ve collected to upgrade the tech tree. There are many upgrade nodes, such as increasing the absorption ring’s range, attack power, attack frequency, and so on. In the mid‑to‑late game, there are also plenty of corrupted crystals with special effects. When broken, their special effects can trigger chain reactions. So this game is not just about pure numerical growth – the real joy lies in unlocking new mechanics!
Here’s what the skill tree looks like now. I’ve only shown a small part to avoid too many spoilers.
Here’s a short clip from the late game.
Unlocking the entire skill tree in the Playtest version takes about 40–50 minutes. Unlike some incremental games that pad the skill tree with time‑wasting nodes to stretch the experience beyond two hours, my design philosophy is to keep the upgrade process constantly fresh. Therefore, the playtime for a single run won’t change much from the current version. In the full release, after fully feeding one Crystal Sprite, you’ll get a system similar to “rebirth” that resets the skill tree. But this reset isn’t just replaying the same thing – it completely transforms into a new playstyle! For example, the current version is a complete Dark element build. In the full version, after rebirthing, you can switch to the Lightning element, and the entire skill tree’s nodes and mechanics will be thoroughly renewed! So the full version focuses on variety – more content, same price!
About this Game
A simple incremental game where you nurture crystal elementals by destroying floating crystals and harvesting aether. Upgrade the skill tree, unlock new abilities to gather resources faster, and build your ultimate crystal companions.
