Independent developer Carbon Machina has officially unveiled Heaven Crawler, an atmospheric action-adventure roguelite that made its debut during the Latin American Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2026. Drawing inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, NieR, and the work of Fumito Ueda, the game combines isometric dungeon crawling, RPG progression, and roguelite systems with a deeply personal story about loss, grief, and learning to move forward.
Set within a towering structure known as The Womb, players take on the role of a young protagonist climbing toward Heaven’s Gates. According to the game’s lore, anyone capable of reaching the summit gains the power to bring back someone who has died. It’s a premise that immediately frames the journey as something far more emotional than a typical dungeon crawl.
Climbing Toward Heaven
The Womb serves as both the game’s setting and its greatest mystery. This colossal man-made tower spans nine distinct regions, each with unique environments, enemies, hazards, and visual themes. As players ascend, they’ll encounter mechanical creatures, environmental puzzles, and towering bosses guarding the path forward.
Carbon Machina is aiming for a distinct visual identity inspired by early 2000s gaming. Heavy bloom effects, dense fog, and subdued environmental storytelling create a melancholic atmosphere that feels intentionally nostalgic while supporting the game’s themes.
The tower itself evolves alongside the player. As new abilities are unlocked and mastery improves, the challenges and encounters within The Womb adapt, creating a progression loop where both the player and the world continue to change.
Build Your Own Climber
Rather than locking players into predefined classes, Heaven Crawler offers a flexible customization system built around equipment and relics.
Players can equip different mechanical arms that alter attack styles and combos, masks that modify movement abilities, and magical powers that provide offensive and defensive options. Elemental modifiers, relics, and equipment combinations further expand build variety, encouraging experimentation across multiple runs.
The roguelite structure means every climb offers new opportunities to discover combinations and strategies, while permanent progression systems unlock additional abilities and content between attempts.
A Story About Letting Go
While the combat and exploration form the core gameplay loop, Heaven Crawler’s narrative ambitions set it apart.
Creative Director Diego Armando Muñoz Rodríguez explained that the project draws from personal experiences with loss, noting that two members of the development team lost their fathers at a young age.
“In a way, Heaven Crawler is our version of ICO and Zelda: a child thrown into a hostile adult world he doesn’t yet understand, forced to grow up quickly in order to survive,” Rodríguez said.
He continued by describing the game as an exploration of grief and the desire to reconnect with loved ones who are gone.
“The game comes from the emotional experience of holding onto grief for so long that you begin losing yourself, and from the dream of wanting to bring back someone you lost, no matter the cost.”
Rather than simply telling that story through cutscenes, Carbon Machina says the roguelite structure itself serves as a storytelling device. Every death, repeated climb, and gradual improvement mirrors the emotional process of confronting loss and moving forward.
Kickstarter Campaign Planned
Players interested in supporting the project can already wishlist Heaven Crawler on Steam. Carbon Machina has also launched a Kickstarter pre-campaign page ahead of a full crowdfunding campaign scheduled to begin in September.
No release window has been announced, but Heaven Crawler is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing indie projects revealed during Summer Game Fest season, combining challenging roguelite gameplay with a deeply personal narrative about grief, memory, and the cost of refusing to let go.
