Claim the energy and unlock your full potential!
Just as Catan is the gateway to the world of resource-management games, Ascension is the gateway to the world of deck-building games. With 15 expansions, Ascension provides exciting new mechanics with each new set that build upon each other to keep gameplay interesting. You can even mix and match the sets you like; they are all designed to work together! With basic rules and many different themes, Ascension is an excellent purchase for your playgroup.
There are four main factions, Lifebound, Mechana, Void, and Enlightened. All four factions have a variety of heroes and constructs that gain you additional resources and ‘honor’ points. Each turn, you will draw five cards from your deck and use the resources they produce to fight monsters and acquire new cards for your deck. Once the honor points have run out, each player takes their final turn, and the player with the most points wins!
This review will focus on one of my favorite sets of Ascension; Rise of Vigil. I have a few other favorites, but the combination of art and card drawing really makes this experience a lot of fun. Unlike other sets, there is a new card type: energy. Energy cards allow you to draw a new card from your deck and charge up your hero cards and constructs to activate unleashed power! Pretty nifty, right?
Mechanics: Deck building, Open drafting, Engine building
ART: 6/10
The art style of Ascension has evolved over the years. This is the third core set released, and the style has changed significantly. I enjoy this game’s unique lines and sketch style. It reminds me of the good ol’ days of buying scratch art of our favorite animals.
This set’s central theme relies on gathering energy as a resource. The cards' fine lines and bright colors give them an “electric” look, using the energy associated with lightning to give the cards perceived texture. The artist’s decision is pretty spot on with this expansion of Ascension.
I don’t see line work done often, especially as vibrantly colored as this set has done. The artist definitely has the ability to experiment with the myriad of sets and expansions Ascension has to offer. If you don’t like this style, try out one of the other sets!
STORYTELLING: 5/10
I’ll be honest; though I have memorized the cards, I have never really tied them into the theme all that much. Some heroes and constructs stand out more by requiring energy that grants them additional abilities, such as the transforming heroes in the Darkness Unreleased expansion. Otherwise, I just focus on the art and synergies between the cards.
However, there is a story in each rule book for each expansion about what is going on in the world. The factions persist throughout the universe; you will often see familiar faces in each set. Designed by former Magic: the Gathering pro players, it makes sense that they wanted to create a universe for all of their games to reside in and have character arcs along the way.
There is a story if you want to read about the lore in the rule books, but otherwise, just get to the gameplay and have some fun.
COMPONENTS: 6/10
No synthetic cards again *sad face*. I have played this game hundreds of times, and I didn’t sleeve my cards, so they are beat up. However, there is a pleasant board with beautiful background art and clear designations for where cards belong to play the game.
The gem tokens are what make Ascension stand out. Other than Century: Golem, I don’t know of a single game that uses these, though I don’t know why. They look and feel fantastic; you can purchase them on any game component site for cheap. They come in all sorts of colors aso ind sizes. In Ascension, there are red five-point gems that are a bit larger than the one-point clear gems.
I highly recommend purchasing small ones in orange, green, purple, and blue for the Dawn of Champions expansion; it only makes sense! Believe me; you’ll understand when you try it out.
The last point that I always like calling out is that the box insert has designated areas for each component, making storing it much more manageable. It might not be a perfect fit for each component like other games offer, but there’s enough organization structure that it helps for sure.
COMPLEXITY: 4/10
The game's rules are straightforward, and the cards clearly state what to do. Everything is always played on your turn, so there is no weird timing to account for. However, playing your cards in order can change the outcome of your turns.
The complexity comes from discovering patterns and synergies between cards in your hand and those in the center row. The higher-cost cards are obviously powerful, and from experience, if you strive to get those cards, you should fare well.
In this particular expansion, energy is the crucial piece. Cards require energy shards to unleash their full potential. That makes this game simpler than others, as the goal is to obtain as much energy as possible. Energy cards get placed in the center row underneath other cards, so it often doesn’t matter what the card does if there are a lot of energy shards beneath it.
Though this game is listed for 13+, I taught it to some 10-year-olds I used to babysit, and they did just fine. Some of the card’s art or themes might be better suited for older kids, but for the majority, it’s fine. This is a great, simple, fast-paced family game you can squeeze in before dinner.
TRAVEL-FRIENDLY: 7/10
The box for a core set is a bit large compared to the expansion, but you can bring it along because the play area required is relatively small! You don’t even need the board to play, so if you want to purchase a deck box and put the cards in it, by all means!
As a Magic: the Gathering player, I know there are SO many options for deck boxes and ample storage for hundreds of cards. If you wanted to combine sets, I’m sure there are options to do just that.
Facebook recently reminded me that I played Ascension with my now-husband many years ago while waiting for my car’s oil change! If that doesn’t mean travel-friendly, I don’t know what does!
There is also an app with all but two sets so that you can hammer out a game online or locally with a friend. I spent a lot of my life setting up online games with all my friends and playing constantly throughout the day.
UNIQUENESS: 3/10
This was my very first deck builder experience aside from trading card games (TCGs) like Magic. Thematically, fantasy is common across many games. However, only a few game experiences (aside from TCGs) have an overarching world and characters that see repeated play across the various sets.
Mechanically, all games like this play out the same way, just with varying resources and how you use them. Ascension was the first time I saw a resource that allowed me to fight a monster, which I came to see again in Clank later on. Overall, it is challenging to be unique with such simple mechanics, so the creativity has to come with the theme and coming up with a new resource or card type that earns you some unique advantage.
Innovation:
With deck-building at its core, what makes Ascension different from all the rest? As I mentioned, there are 15 sets that you can play with. Each set brings a new minor mechanic that can modify your usual strategy. Some expansions work well mixed together, while others are better on their own to gain the full experience of the set.
Final Comments
In my early hobby days, Ascension was our go-to game, day after day. As I mentioned earlier, I would play it on my phone in my downtime for years! It is a solid game with many cards that can be fun to mix and match mechanics together. It is quick to play, easy to set up, and easy to get any newcomer to play.
However, after memorizing the cards and playing hundreds of games, at least playing with two players, it becomes apparent who will win the game after just a few turns. This makes it almost pointless to continue playing. Randomness is the only “catch-up” mechanic which has yet to prove that someone who is behind stands any chance.
Playing with four players, it almost seems strictly worse to be going in last. You always have whatever is remaining that others didn’t want. Again, randomness could work in your favor, but it doesn’t feel like enough. In games like Dominion, at least you can buy point cards to try and catch up, but Ascension doesn’t have that.
Despite these negatives, I think it is a perfect gift for someone new to the hobby, and I think it’s an excellent game to play with a family with younger kids. It teaches them resource management as well as learning to see patterns.
If you already have a vast collection of games, adding this will be nice. If you do not, just be wary of overplaying it too much, as it might lose its charm. The theme and artwork are vastly different between sets, so there is definitely one set out there that will appeal more to you!
Similar To: Dominion, Clank!, 7 Wonders: Duel, Star Realms
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Publisher: Stone Blade Entertainment
Game(s) Pictured: Ascension: Rise of Vigil
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