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I had my first contact with Ascension, when it was first released on PC. It was a good and innovative card game without paywalls, but overall, pretty unspectacular, and there were so many exciting things happening in the video-game world, that i lost interest pretty fast.
Now, more than ten years later, im a different person. I dont seek adrenaline and dopamine anymore, but like it calm and relaxing, and appreciate asynchronous multiplayer-games.
And, since there arent many pbem-games with an active player-base left for Android (which is my only gaming platform by now), i rediscovered Ascension. And, out of pure frustration, decided to give it another try, expecting absolutely nothing from it...
But, let me honestly tell you:
Im completely blown away!
I seriously have a hard time with describing my feelings. I mean... Ascension, in 2024, is more than a game. Its... more than i could have ever imagined, more that should be possible for a physical game adaption: its a piece of art!
There have been so many expansions since the first release, and each single one of those introduced new keywords, card-types and mechanics.
The sheer complexity and depth of a complete Ascension set is insane and unparalleled, and yet, all cards and mechanics harmonize wonderfully.
Additionally, the developers accomplished the miracle, to manage everything that is going on within a clear and comfortable interface, and you can access the manual for each expansion while playing, and of course, within the app.
Which, if you play asynchronous, lets you learn and discover the game extremely comfortable, and at your own pace. In fact, there are so many options for the maximum playtime, ranging from 10 minutes to 28 days (!), that everybody should find his prefered playstyle.
And, of course you dont need to enable any expansions, but just the content that you want:
Dont like anything that has been added to the base-game? Just create a game to your liking, the freedom is yours! I, for example, dont like crazy aoe effects, so i looked through all expansions, and disabled 3 (out of 13), as well as the promo-cards for my games.
Just want to give the game a try? Of course, the base-game is free, and purchasing all expansions is optional and dirt cheap!
Tired of free2play, pay2win, energy-bars, advertising, ads, gacha? You wont find any of those in Ascension! The game is clean and perfectly fair for everybody. And yet, still in developement: A new expansion has been released recently, the latest patch is from 06/2024, and for the 10th anniversary, the developers rebalanced the game...
Speaking of perfect fairness:
Just like in every card-game, there will, of course, be some rng involved, f.e. which cards are available to each player, and certain mechanics introduced in expansions, but there are so many options you can choose from, that skill is much more impactful than in similiar games i have played (which are Star Realms, Hero Realms, Dominion and a couple of others that seem to be dead by now).
Now, coming to the inevitable negatives:
Tablet-notification does not work for me, so im forced to use email-notifications, which is a bit annoying.
I also strongly recommend to play on a big screen. There are just so many mechanics and symbols, that it makes sense to have all information available within a single interface.
Which hurts, is that you cannot change the lenght of games. Currently, it feels like games always end, once end-game cards are in reach, and also, that games are always unranked, and that there is no leaderboard.
On a sidenot, the support seems to be dead, and is not reacting to contacts.
Concluding, Ascension is the overall best card-game that i have ever played, and a masterpiece of game-design.
(Edit: 10/2024) After countless 2, 3 and 4 player games, it hasnt lost any of its magic, and i still discover deeper tactics and ways to improve my skill. And, not a single day passes, where i do not play at least a couple of matches against other players...
Ascension is extremely complex, extremely deep, very customizeable, and no two games will ever play the same, especially, when playing with expansions, which i strongly recommend.
There are downsides that affect the experience, as the engine hasnt been touched for a long time, and a remaster would be greatly appreciated, but, speaking about the game itself, i dont think that there will ever be a card-game, that could even come close to its overall quality.
Posted on 09/21/202412 Views
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