Melee
The Path of the Jaguar
Jun Balam, captain of the Jaguar Warriors. Jaguar helm, ichcahuipilli and obsidian macuahuitl. Endure, strike and let the fury do the rest.
In Xibalbá: El Descenso (The Descent), Jacinto Pech Canché is a fisherman from Calderitas. At the bottom of Taam Ja', the blue hole of Chetumal Bay, he finds a jade cylinder that fuses to his arm… and the bay swallows him whole. To get home, he must descend to the very bottom of Xibalbá.
From the path of the sacred ceibas to the obsidian quarries, from the sunken city of K'ux to the palace of the Lords and their ballgame, all the way down to the Chamber of the Black Sun. Every level is inspired by real sites in southern Quintana Roo and Campeche.
Direct action combat: click to move, weighty hits and enemies that telegraph their attacks. Read the animation, dodge and punish.
The Popol Vuh and the legends of the peninsula: Xtabay, Huay Chivo, aluxes, Sisimito, Tsukan, Camazotz, Hun-Camé and Vucub-Camé.
Melee with the Jaguar, ranged with the Eagle or magic with the Sun. Each with its own skill tree, glyphs and style.
Death is not the end: your soul walks the path back, guided by an alushe, while the Lords mock you. Now also a mobile game.
Every creature holds a story. Gather their echoes and discover who Jacinto was before: jaguar, turtle, hummingbird, ceiba…
Tunkul, huehuetl, turtle shell, rattles, clay flute and conch shell, in original epic themes.
In the depths, darkness drives you mad. Torches, braziers and the fire of K'inich are your refuge.
At the Shrine, Jacinto tests the strength of three ancient champions and takes up their path.
Jun Balam, captain of the Jaguar Warriors. Jaguar helm, ichcahuipilli and obsidian macuahuitl. Endure, strike and let the fury do the rest.
Ish Chak Kot, huntress of Ichkabal. Atlatl darts charged with lightning from the sky: never let them reach you.
Aj Tsib Kíin, priest of the Sun. Chaac's lightning, copal and the fire of K'inich; the alushes fight at your side.
The same descent in two styles: realistic light and stone, or flat colors and ink linework like the pages of a Maya codex. Switch anytime from the options menu. Drag the line to compare.
RealisticCodex
Each site is an expedition in the game. Its architecture was rebuilt from field photos, and each one hides a puzzle based on what is really there.
OxtankahPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 1. The city facing the bay, with the 16th-century Spanish chapel where Gonzalo Guerrero and Zazil Há lived. You turn pyrite mirrors to carry a sunbeam to her crypt.
Tour: City Tour, Oxtankah and Tamalcab Island →
IchkabalPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 2. Preclassic megalithic platforms and a white sacbé crossing the jungle. You balance counterweights with sacks of saskab counted in Maya numerals.
Tour: Ichkabal from Chetumal and Bacalar →
Dzibanché and KinichnáPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 3. The cradle of the Kaanul dynasty, "the Snake people". The steps of the Temple of the Captives change glyphs until they spell the lineage: Kaan · K'in · Balam · Kaan.
Tour: Kohunlich, Dzibanché and Kinichná →
KohunlichPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 4. Among cohune palms, the Temple of the Masks of the sun god K'inich Ajaw. You turn stone discs so the sun lights up all four faces.
Tour: Kohunlich, Dzibanché and Kinichná →
ChacchobenPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 5. Round-cornered temples beside the lagoon, under one of Chaac's downpours. You push stone rollers so the rain runs down to the chultún.
Tour: Bacalar and Chacchoben →
BecánPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 6. The city ringed by a moat nearly 2 km long. You lower the bridge with henequen winches, then survive the ambushes in the vaulted tunnels.
Tour: Xpujil, Becán and Chicanná →
XpujilPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 7. The three-towered Río Bec temple, with false stairways no one could climb. You aim quartz prisms so light rises to each roof comb.
Tour: Xpujil, Becán and Chicanná →
ChicannáPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 8. The "House of the Serpent's Mouth": you walk in through the jaws of the Earth Monster. Past a corridor of stucco fangs, you leave copal, jade or cacao on the altars of Venus.
Tour: Xpujil, Becán and Chicanná →
BalamkúPhoto courtesy of chetumaltours.comIn the game: Expedition 9. The Frieze of the Universe, with kings seated on earth-monster jaws and reclining jaguars. You light the braziers in the color of each direction: red east, white north, black west, yellow south.
Tour: Calakmul and its route →Photos courtesy of chetumaltours.com, made by the same team behind ULYZONE++, which runs tours to each of these sites from Chetumal and Bacalar.
The plants in the game come from traditional Maya medicine and the stories told in the villages of the south: trees that burn, trees that heal and resins given as offerings.
These are cultural references turned into game mechanics, not recipes or remedies.
Gameplay footage and the cinematics that tell each legend before you face it. More shorts on the way: Camazotz vs. the Jaguar Warrior and the hunt for the Huay Chivo.
Tunkul, huehuetl, turtle shell, conch trumpet and ocarinas like the Jaina figurines. The double flute, two voices beating against each other, is the voice of Xibalbá. More than 70 pieces composed for the game: every boss and every legend has its own.
When you bring down a Lord of Xibalbá, time freezes for 0.15 s, cinema bars slide in and the camera drops to his body while time returns from 12% to 100% in just over two seconds. Every normal hit also has weight: a 2, 4 or 6 frame pause depending on its strength.
Moving shots that change lens, volumetric fog, dawn light pouring through the cave mouth and 160 bats spiralling overhead. It all runs inside the game engine; none of it is pre-rendered video.
A narrator tells each legend with adapted Maya pronunciation (x sounds like "sh": alux is said "alushe"). The music dips on its own while he speaks, and everything is subtitled in Spanish and English.
Camazotz's wings have an arm, a forearm and four long clawed fingers; the skin billows, tears at the edge and glows when backlit. The Lords have gestures and weak points you can read during the fight.
Chacchoben, Kohunlich, Dzibanché, Xpujil, Balamkú and Chetumal Bay inspire the levels. You can visit them for real on the chetumaltours.com tours.
Animated series · In developmentWe are preparing the bible for an eight-episode animated series: Jacinto, his three fallen mentors, the Alux of the cornfield and the legends of the peninsula, from the blue hole in the bay to the Black Sun. Each episode is born from a level of the game and a real place in southern Quintana Roo.
A project in development by ULYZONE++. Producers and platforms interested: Contact us
Add Xibalbá: El Descenso to your Wishlist. We'll let you know when the Act I demo drops and when the game launches.
Preliminary requirements; to be confirmed before launch.
Ideas, legends from your region, questions about the game: we read them all here.
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