Last updated on December 16th, 2025 at 05:28 pm
Ascender – Action Game Review
Ascender is a Action/Strategy game from Peter Moyle, first launched in 21st September 2022.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 154+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Ascender Stand Out
Ascend from the depths of the abyss in this original 8-BIT style arcade game.
Navigate through challenging terrain and defeat enemies while trying not to overheat your engine.
This simple arcade game will have your heart pumping as you approach the next checkpoint.
Features:
- Retro arcade graphics and sound
- 1000m of level design to ascend
- Easy to use mobile controls
- Quick start checkpoints every 100m
- Lovable enemies to defeat
- 3 Game modes (Classic, Time Trial and Survivor)
- Game Center global leaderboards
NO Ads, NO In App purchases, Completely FREE.
This Action game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Ascender is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 11th November 2022
Recent improvements include:
Game Center global leaderboards for Time Trial and Survivor modes
Download & Availability
Ascender is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
This is such a fun game. We love the retro feel to it. Just hard enough to make you almost throw your phone, but not to difficult to make you quit altogether. That part when you gotta feather the throttle juuuust right to avoid the lasers! We need more Ascender! We have beat the game and now longing for more. Thanks for such a great game.
We love the simplistic game style. Cant wait for the next one.
Really well done game. Simple, reasonably challenging, not overly punishing. We look forward to doing the time trial mode and checkpoint-less mode. This is the kind of game that we would enjoy speedrunning or doing deathless, so its nice the game gives some acknowledgement for that.
Thanks for making and releasing this. Ive gotten more enjoyment out of Ascender than most any other iOS game Ive played. After completing Classic mode, Ive thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of beating Survival and competing against others in the Time Trial global leaderboards. Im writing this review after just setting the global record for the 100-0 time trial. Not to brag, but we crushed the previous record by nearly 30 seconds, and was the first to break the 1 min mark. We say this because we want someone to try to figure out how we did it and beat our time. Cheers.
This game is sooo cool we like it because it looks old. Theres not that much old games in the App Store. But it is kind of hard. You have to get this game.
Loved this game. We just finished it a second ago and Im so sad its over. We definitely recommend this. The best part- NO ADS!!! Its so hard to find a good quality game with no ads these days, and this game is both of those things. Its also very addictive! Its the right level of difficulty but no so hard that we can wipe out our phone to try to beat a level when Im bored and have a few minutes to spare. Get this game.
Love the game. The lil flame thrower dudes are so cute.
We like it. The travel between checkpoints is a bit long. Or Im not very good at it.
Love it and cant wait for more. Best game on app store.
We very much enjoyed this game! It was fun and addicting to play. It was a little bit difficult to get used to but thats what its supposed to be. Looking forward to Ascender dos! God bless sir.
This game is really fun especially considering its free.
This game is really fun and we are surprised that not a lot of people play it. It is fun and challenging with no ads.
Their is nothing wrong its just amazing and their is no ads one of the best games Ive played.
Its a simple game. Fun, challenging, doesnt collect your data, and has no micro-transactions or in-app purchases. Personally, we couldnt ask for more. Give a try, its 40mb and you will know within 5 minutes of playing if it is a game you will enjoy or not.
Fun game. Love the retro minimalist style. We will definitely be looking for more games like this.
It is always better to look good , than to feel good.
We really enjoyed playing the game. Being a game developer ourselves we can appreciate the level design, the inventive array of enemy units and their strategic placements through the map. Really well done game with a simple but appealing atmosphere. Someone mentioned that hard high spot at 200m – that was fun to figure out. We were just grateful that past that point the game allows you to finish the level without any other significant obstacles. Our only criticism is the positioning of the game controls – the movement arrows are too far over to the left and too close together and its easy to press the wrong button. The whole scene including the buttons on the right could be scooted over to the right to allow more space in the left corner. This issue could be due to our phone maybe – we have iPhone XR. Other than that, thank you, its a brilliant little game, Ill be looking forward to your next installment.
Excellent little game, tough but fair and rewarding. Once you get the controls down you'll feel confident in your piloting. This game took us a couple weeks of playing it on the toiler to complete, and without a single Ad to disturb us. Highly recommend, excited for whats next.
This game is amazing, we love the hardness and also the simplistic design of the game. We hope more levels come out tho, but none the less its a great game and would 100% recommend it.
Fun free ascension game but limited. There is one level with three different play types. We beat all but no other levels to play. Controls are jenky and dont register sometimes causing a flight or fire error causing a death/end in the run. Other than that, worth getting and playing occasionally.
More please. Love the Lunar Lander retro. Youve got a plethora to choose from.
We must write this review and say that this game is simply awesome peter, youve done a fantastic level design and those small changes of pace is well placed and we loved those hot and cold areas. Peter thank you for making this and also you need to make more of these type of games. Wish you the best.
This game sucked us in. Super simple concept, but there were some very difficult sections. It was super rewarding to make it out, and now we want more.
Cant wait for the sequel, but the game really wasnt very difficult when compared to geometry dash. Not easy to be sure, but we managed to finish it in like 5 hours and im not even a gamer.
Great arcade style game with good arcade music. Hard but not impossible. Looking forward to the sequel. And the best part is that it is free and has no ads. Thanks developer.
An incredible game considering there are no micro transactions and no ads. We do wish you could adjust the size of the buttons though.
Basically flawless. How is this even accessible free on the AppStore.
Great game. Hard but save points make it not frustrating. At least not much. Except argh! That hot spot after the 200m is impossible! Have mercy, put a tiny ledge there, something. We can see those diagonal knives in our dreams now. Edit: ooh. We did figure it out. Amazing. And now Im done and crave more of it. Joining the other reviews here – would pay for more levels.
Throw back to our youth. Perfectly done. Keep making more. Simple controls. Well defined environment and enemies/threats. The ending reminded us a little of Galaga the stats at the end were cool. We hate those pink things.
Finally, we have found a game that is pure fun.
One of the most-enjoyable mobile games Ive downloaded. No money grabs. No bugs. Just incremental, arcade glory.
This is one of the best games Ive played in a long time. The game play is simple and perfectly challenging. Our only complaint is the game is much too short (it is free after all with no ads). We would GLADLY pay to have the option to play more levels.
Loved the game and we cant wait for the sequel hope it is just as good or even better.
Brutally hard old school arcade. Bathe in glory as you finally make a check point after 50 billion attempts. 13/10 good game.
Annoying in the best way possible.
This is a quick, fun little game that reminded us of the quarter arcades. Nothing fancy, but still very enjoyable. A well done experience.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.9.12
- Size: 40.31 MB
- iOS: 10.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: [Peter Moyle]()
Last updated: 11th November 2022 | Genre: Action, Strategy | Developer: Peter Moyle