Ascension for the iOS
Over the next few weeks, I will be returning to my Deck Building Game Review-A-Thon series that I started earlier this year. Three games in, here’s where things stand so far:
- Thunderstone – My favorite thus far, striking a solid balance of strategy, re-playability, and engaging theme.
- Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer – The most accessible and easy to play of the three, providing an excellent entry point for non-gamers and robust fun for the experienced.
- Dominion – The godfather of the deck building genre and enjoyable in it’s own right.
It comes as no surprise that of these, Ascension is the first to be digitally translated for mobile devices, in this case for the iPhone/iPad/iPod.
Ascension for the iOS is a complete port of the card game, with identical rules and including all of the cards in the basic set. The screen layout is tight and efficient, displaying all pertinant cards and data without being too cramped. Any card can be enlarged at any time so that it’s flavor text and attributes can be read, which is a necessity given how small they are displayed on the playing field, especially on the iPhone/iPod. The rules are clearly presented, and a welcome addition is the card gallery, which allows you to familiarize yourself with all of the cards in the game outside of play.
There are several ways that developer has taken advantage of the app to streamline and enhance gameplay. The interface is intuitive, and resources are automatically tracked in a highly visual way – in fact, it is easier to learn and follow the game with this app than the original card game. The background soundtrack is suitably “fantasy-epic sounding” without being obtrusive, and the various screams that occur whenever a monster is vanquished is a nice touch. The game can be played on a single iOS device with a mix of 2-4 human and AI players, or remotely with human players over the game’s worldwide server. AI players can currently be set to either an Easy or Medium difficulty level; while human opponents clearly provide the best challenge, the AI can keep things close and provide consistently fun matches. Also, remote players aren’t required to be online at the same time, and a push notification will be sent to an offline player when it is their turn.
This is an outstanding program overall, although there are a few things on my wish list for future updates of the app. There is currently no Hard difficulty level for the AI, which would make offline games even more fulfilling; this is already planned for a future version. I’m hopeful that an in-game chat mechanism will show up in a forthcoming release, as there is currently no way for remote players to directly communicate with each other. Although not in the standard rules, Ascension lends itself to both 2-on-2 team play as well as tournament series, which would be relatively easy to implement. Finally, as previously noted, a weakness of the base game in terms of replayability is the relative lack of card depth – the print version has several promo cards and the recently released Return of the Fallen expansion to remedy this, and it would be lovely for those to migrate to the digital version as well.
Ascension for the iOS is an excellent implementation of an already great game. For new players it can serve as a more intuitive introduction to the rules, and for everyone it’s a swift and easy way to play with others. Although it won’t replace the print game’s tactile feeling and in-person camaraderie, at $4.99 it’s a inexpensive and well-done compliment to the card game experience.
Tags: Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, Deck Building Game Review-A-Thon, deck building games, John Cmar
