There's a sort of minimalist art style one sometimes sees in sprites. The sprites themselves are amazingly intricate, but the color beneath it all is limited. Only greens, or only oranges, for example. Ascent is one of these games, but only in the character and "enemy sprites". And we have to say, the background art is absolutely fantastic.

Ascent, created for TOJam 4, follows a boy as he climbs a tree with traps all around. He was left alone in an unknown place, and now searches for his parents. It's an affecting and vaguely disturbing premise, as carved into the tree are phrases such as "we're so sorry". The gameplay is simple: jump up, avoid the spikes. It'll take you maybe three minutes to finish the game, but the artwork is so intricate and lovely that you might play it over just to see more detail! Here's hoping more is made of it.