#in ashes

Due to errors beyond our control, we have cleaned up our blog and are restarting again. Please follow and connect with us here!

To christen our new account, enjoy a sneak peak of the protagonist from our fantasy adventure visual novel, In Ashes!

Do they look like the hero you thought they'd be?

Intoducing In Ashes—a LGBT+ fantasy adventure where you must balance heroism and survival with rest, burn out, and trust. 

An unexpected quest has reached your sleepy town. Once again, you must raise your weapon and step into the boots of a weary, burnt out adventurer. Balance survival with managing relationships and self-love.

You were a hero once before, but what kind of hero will you be now?

I'm thrilled to finally announce our project! Inspired by Frieren, Robin Hobb, The Witcher Book series, Arthurian tales, and all fantasy media that tugs at your heart strings.

About The Game

📜 Your Story, Your Legacy: Customise your hero’s name, pronouns, and personality to shape the world’s perception of your hero.

⚔ Fulfilling Skill System: Choose between 9 different skills to craft your ideal play style. Each skill comes with unique dialogues, combat options, and challenges.

🎭 Dynamic Personality System: Combine traits to create a layered protagonist. Your choices shape how the world responds to you. There is no right hero, only the one you choose to be.

☠️Tactical Combat, Real Consequences: Quick, impactful decisions determine your survival. Use the skills, items, and relationships available to you to win battles.

👑 The Valour System: Earn Valour by making choices that best align with your hero's strengths and values. Use it to turn the tide in battles where every decision matters. Being true to who you are could save your life.

💕Complex, Evolving Companions: Lead your party through the Everwood. Learn their pasts, secrets, and ambitions. (Male and Female romance options!)

🌀 Multiple Endings, Driven by Choices: Every decision shapes your story, leading to a variety of endings influenced by relationships, moral dilemmas, and your chosen path. Each ending is unique to your hero and their final party. Who will you become by the end of your journey? 

Note: Endings are not limited to romance, but relationships do influence them.

🎨 A passionate team: In Ashes is created by a small, but extremely talented team of a single character artist, one background artist, and one developer.

Thank you so so much. With wishlists from all around the world, I'm honoured to have you be a part of this journey.

The Journey so far...

In Ashes first launched it s paged nervously in 2025. As a first-time small dev, it's the first time I've ever launched a page. In fact, 2025 had a lot of firsts. It saw our first discord server, our first X/Twitter account, the first time we ever participated in a Steam festival or had hosted a festival. It was the first time we created an announcement trailer for the game and announced Studio Ephua!

It's strange to think of what it took to get here. 

It's been a bit quiet, no?

I know! But that doesn't mean the game isn't moving forward. I handle both the development of the game, and the communications, while working full-time. So often I don't have the time or resources to push out content to social media, but that doesn't mean we have nothing to show for it.

Vui, our background artist, has been expanding the world of the new demo with some brand new areas that are key to the story, while Betto has been using them to work on some incredibly exciting additional CGs! 

We also have Zombie assisting us with concept art, and while I can't show most of the cool reveals yet, I can say they're doing an excellent job!

What else?

While it's unlikely In Ashes will feature custom SFX. However, I’m currently working with a very talented duo on producing a custom track for the project. The quality is already mindblowing! All to be revealed in due time!

That's all for now.

Farewell,

Little Hero

Please remember to rest.

We're taking part in the Fall In Love visual novel festival! Live now until October 1st. Join us in celebrating over 200 romance-themed visual novels on Steam!

In Ashes is a LGBT+ medieval fantasy adventure visual novel RPG where you must balance heroism and survival with rest, burn out, and trust. Inspired by Dragon Age, Robin Hobb, Arthurian legends & Frieren.

Wishlist now for:

🥰 Both male and female love interests. 🐉 Dragons 🤝 The option to only pursue friendships, rather than romance. 🏳️‍🌈 Choice of gender and name for the protagonist. 🏰 Multiple ending epilogues! Romantic and otherwise. 🗣️ A buildable personality system that NPCs and the world around you react to. 🧌 Monsters of various degrees of morality and hotness. 🎨 Quality writing and art. 🐦‍⬛ An underlying sense of existential dread.

In Ashes' steam page has just been updated to include... well, actual screenshots. I think they're pretty cool, at least.

Rabid Noise – Nate Rose From In Ashes

Check out this interview with the vocalist of the Australian band. Listen to “Nate Rose from In Ashes” on Spreaker.