Ascend to ZERO's 30-second time loop is out now on Game Pass

Flyway Games has released Ascend to ZERO on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass. The isometric action-roguelite launched today, July 13, as a Day One addition to Microsoft's subscription service.

The studio, a South Korean subsidiary of Krafton founded in 2023, built a bullet-hell game around a strict time restriction. The plot follows humanity in the year 2225 after a massive underground facility called the Time Lab opens a portal to the future. Instead of finding salvation, scientists accidentally invite an army of mechanical monsters into the present.

The lab director responds by throwing a genetically engineered Chrono Child into a time rift. You play as this survivor. She wakes up in a ruined future with fragmented memories and exactly 30 seconds to save the world.

A very short apocalypse

That 30-second timer is a hard limit on every run. To survive, you have to manipulate the clock. The core mechanic lets you freeze time completely. During these paused moments, you can freely walk through dense waves of enemy projectiles, loot items, and reposition your character.

Once you unfreeze time, your avatar unleashes automatic attacks and class-specific abilities. The combat blends the automatic firing of bullet-heaven games with the deliberate positioning of a tactical RPG. You play as different avatars, such as a melee-focused samurai or a ranged gunner. Each class has its own skill trees and attack patterns.

The 30-second limit sounds restrictive, but the game uses a standard roguelite progression system to stretch that window. You gather resources during each brief run to purchase permanent upgrades at your base. Your avatar gets stronger and weapons gain new modifications through tech chips. Those half-minute bursts eventually yield highly efficient farming runs.

Between runs, you return to a central bunker. Here, a mysterious robotic aide helps you piece together the story and manage your upgrades. The hub area gives you a breather from the frantic combat. You can experiment with different tech chip combinations before diving back into the fray. The visual style leans heavily into cyberpunk and anime aesthetics. The environments are dark and metallic. Bright pink and purple attack effects provide a sharp contrast.

Cross-platform progression

Microsoft included the game in its Play Anywhere program. Buying the digital version on the Xbox store grants access to both the console and PC versions. Your save data syncs between platforms automatically, so you can start a run on your computer and finish upgrading your character on the couch.

The base game costs $12 on Steam and the Xbox store, though Game Pass subscribers can play it at no extra cost. A deluxe edition is also available. It includes a supporter pack and the original soundtrack.

Roguelikes usually demand long play sessions to make any real progress. A good run in most games takes at least an hour. By hard-capping the action at 30 seconds of in-game time, Flyway Games built something that fits into a ten-minute break. You can knock out three runs, buy a permanent time machine upgrade, and put the controller down without losing your momentum.