The core fantasy
You begin as a weak Spirit. You earn power. You evolve through skill trees. You grow into a Poltergeist capable of true chaos.
How you scare the living
- Make noise. Let out a ghostly wail and watch nearby villagers panic and flee, or storm after you.
- Take over a villager. Possess them and walk through the village in their shoes.
- Vanish. Turn invisible to slip past anyone who is hunting you, at the cost of ectoplasm.
- Throw things around. Pick up objects and hurl them.
- Chase them home. Scare a villager through their front door, light up their house and earn XP.
Want the details? Read the game guide or check the controls.
You cannot die. But you can be banished.
When your Death bar runs out, you are banished. You return with your health and ectoplasm restored, and you keep the XP you earned. Recover, upgrade and go back in stronger.
The Ethereal Plane hub
Portals in the hub lead to areas of the living world. The Small Village is the first area you can visit. The hub will grow with new portals, upgrades and harder encounters, and your skill tree is a button press away in the pause menu.
Concept art
Gallery
Help test the game
Ethereal Ascent is built by one developer and shaped by the people who play it. The Discord community tries new builds, reports bugs and tells me what feels good and what doesn't.
Early access testing is planned, and Discord members will hear about it first. Join now to get your name in the room before it opens.
Join the Discord Early access detailsDevelopment status
Ethereal Ascent is a playable prototype in active development. It is solo developed, with playtesting from the Discord community. A Steam release is planned (to be confirmed).
Follow along on Discord and YouTube, or read the devlog and the roadmap.
Built by one developer
Ethereal Ascent is a solo project, built from scratch. The community testers on Discord help refine the gameplay, and their feedback decides what gets built next.