Helix: Descent N Ascent demo pops up on Steam

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Full version of wordless black-and-white environmental puzzler coming to Windows PC next quarter

Ever get the feeling that you're struggling against a darker version of yourself that's constantly seeking to sabotage your best efforts with self-destructive tendencies? In Helix: Descent N Ascent, the upcoming environmental puzzler by indie Belgian developer Badass Mongoose, you'll encounter a very similar sort of reality in a very tangible way. 

Players control a long-legged alien-looking creature, the last of its kind who awakens lost and alone in the "forgotten depths of an ancient world." Fortunately you seem particularly attuned to this place, as it's "responsive to your unique abilities, allowing you to interact meaningfully with your surroundings." Your powers will expand and develop as you begin to explore and "unearth secrets, investigate the fate of a lost civilization, collect artifacts, and respond to the haunting call that beckons." There are many obstacles in your path, however, so you must "meticulously observe and experiment to decode the numerous puzzles that stand before you." And all the while, you'll need to contend with a counterpart that looks like a mirror opposite – or more accurately, a photo negative – of yourself, who keeps always out of reach and may yet prove to be friend or a foe.

Light and darkness are recurring themes in Helix, nowhere less noticeably than its monochromatic presentation that takes inspiration from "1980s black-and-white indie comics, 1990s manga, and 1970s Franco-Belgian comics." From a bird's-eye viewpoint, you'll guide your silent character around this nonlinear "world of contrasts" via gamepad (recommended) or keyboard, accompanied only by Jim Guthrie's  (Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Oxenfree) score that befits such a "dreamlike, serene, and strange universe." The bizarre landscape is filled with unusual architecture, abandoned machinery and organic growth of all kinds, and with no instructions or exit markers to point the way, it's up to you to journey as you see fit, finding passages between screens where you can. 

That soon becomes easier said than done, as you'll find many passages blocked. You can interact directly with certain elements in the environment (including old arcade cabinets with playable minigames), but more often than not you'll have to rely on your five unique gifts, including creating moveable blocks and even projecting a time-limited version of yourself. Better yet, you can combine these powers together, mixing and matching them in "25 distinctive ways, and through multiple layers of complexity." The more you tap into your potential, the farther you'll progress along your "deep emotional journey" and better come to understand a tale "interwoven with threads of melancholy and the undying spirit of the past" that will ultimately lead to the realization of your destiny. 

The full version of Helix: Descent N Ascent isn't far off, with an expected launch date sometime in the second quarter of 2026. In the meantime, you can dive into the thirty-minute demo available now on Steam, introducing the mysterious protagonist's first three special abilities.