Game info

Cyrah's Ascent (Adventure, TPS, Action)

In this 3D action combat game, channel ancient powers into several ranged spells and melee attacks
to deal with several different enemies. Following the destruction of her village and people by the
Laust, Cyrah takes up the mantle of the Ancient Matriarchs to avenge her people. Harness the power
of Essence in its multiple forms to scale the mountain and destroy the source corrupting the land
in Cyrah's Ascent. Use your abilities to jump and dash to the peak, traversing the snowy landscape
riddled with crumbling remnants of a forgotten civilization.

Coffee Break

Coffee Break consists of a variety of students from around the world, of varying ages, degrees, and backgrounds. Our team started as a collection of members from many previous productions that included "Goodnight, Lily," "Flatline," "Isles of Limbo," "Nohra," and "Pogo Pirate" and more. We got to know each other over countless sleepless nights studying for finals, debugging code, and finishing up art projects. It wasn't all business though, as many of us got to know each other during LAN parties and late-night gaming meetups. We learned that we had similar interests and goals regarding our work, culminating in the release of one of the most anticipated games from our cohort and many lifelong friendships.


Since this was our first foray into 3D game development, we wanted to choose a 3D Engine that supported our various artists and assets while also allowing designers to make quick prototypes and swift, smooth iterations for balancing and level design. It was a difficult choice between Unreal Engine 4 and Unity, both great engines with unique benefits, but the flexibility of blueprints paired with the ease of the art pipeline had Unreal Engine win out in the end.


When originally developing the first ideas that would soon become Cyrah's Ascent, many of us enjoyed the simple yet effective narrative of a character seeking vengeance for her lost civilization, destroyed by forces she could not control. Though the initial idea for this force was a massive creature that the player needed to defeat in stages through fast-pace mobility and a variety of abilities, we soon found this single boss-creature allowed little space for tutorialization and replayability. From there, we shaved down the boss size, introduced smaller enemies, and expanded the map, creating the world of Cyrah's Ascent we have now.