Recently, I have been playing Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer on iPad and I must say I'm very impressed with it. I've been holding back on the board game for quite some time because I read quite a number of reviews which gave me the impression that it is a deck building game that builds upon Dominion. Since I already have Dominion (and Thunderstone before that), I thought Ascension will be just a passable game. So when I came across the iOS version, I was intrigued by it. Not only can you play against the computer A.I., you can also go online and compete with players across the globe. Since it costs only $4.99, I got the app and have been playtesting it for the past week. So how was the game? Fantastic!
What's the Game About?I don't have the physical board game yet, so I haven't had a chance to read the manual. From my 40+ games on the iPad, I still don't know what Ascension is all about. The game revolves around 3 things: runes, power and honor. Using runes, each player can buy heroes and constructs from 4 different factions to empower his hand. With power, the player can battle the monsters that spawn across the table and gain the cards if the monsters are killed. All cards gained through runes and battles generate a certain amount of honor, with the player having the most honor points winning the game.
Is The Game Strategic Or Luck-Based?It definitely has luck factored in due not knowing what cards will hit the table each round. Compared to Dominion, the luck factor here seems to be of a higher percentage. I usually dislike games that have too much luck. Yet, in Ascension, I simply love it because I don't know what will appear, but I know what cards I'm going for. How is this possible? Because of the 4 different factions in the deck of cards: Void, Enlightenment, Mechana and Lifebound. Each one of these plays very differently. Void has more to do with power, while Lifebound gives more runes. Enlightenment seems to provide second chances to the player, and Mechana focuses on honor points. Each faction is further divided in heroes and constructs. For Void and Enlightenment, it doesn't matter much whether the player gets heroes or constructs. For Lifebound, they implement each other. But for Mechana, getting the right cards is crucial. In my experience, Mechana is the hardest to use, yet most of the time, the computer AI wins by acquiring Mechana cards. I've used it once and it was a landslide victory for me. Since then, I've a hard time winning the game with Mechana. Maybe I need to test it out more. Bottom line is, the game is full of strategy despite random cards being drawn onto the table at almost every turn.
Ascension was the first game I played on the iPad and I already very impressed with how it handles. The interface is sleek, the game plays fast and everything is calculated by the computer, leaving the player to focus solely on the cards. Should there be unused runes or power when the player ends his turn, the game actually asks if the player really wants to end his turn. It's like an assistant the the player. The online games also function really well, with a 'lobby' that allows players to either find other gamers online, or create their own game room for others to join. As this was the first game, I didn't really know how well it was implemented, until I installed Shadow Era (a deck building game in the veins of Magic: The Gathering) that I start to realize how slick and amazing Ascension's interface is. No wonder it was voted the best iOS game of 2011!
Conclusion
After playing Thunderstone for quite a while, and with Dominion hitting the game tables recently, I never thought there could be a game to top them off. I was wrong. Ascension has now become the number 1 card game among the three. I feel as if it contains all the best parts of both Dominion and Thunderstone. The end result was that it played as immersive as Thunderstone with the game length of Dominion. My only gripe is that by the time I have my deck of cards ready to dominate my opponent, the game has just ended.
Overall: A
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