Ascension: Deckbuilding Game

About

"Ascension: Deckbuilding Game" is a mobile card game where players build their own decks to battle dark forces and save the Dreamscape. Co-designed by Magic: The Gathering champions, the game offers a challenging and strategic experience for both new and experienced players. The "Deliverance" expansion introduces new cards and mechanics to enhance gameplay.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,154 reviews

gameplay88 positive mentions

stability70 negative mentions

Great deck-building game with a lot of expansions included, providing tons of replayability.
The digital version streamlines gameplay, making it easier to manage cards and rules compared to the physical version.
Fun and engaging mechanics that allow for strategic play and unique combinations in each game.

The honor pool in multiplayer is fixed at a low value, leading to shorter games that lack depth and strategy.
The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and read cards.
There are occasional bugs and performance issues, particularly with AI turns taking too long or freezing the game.

gameplay
292 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
69%
1%
The gameplay of this deck-building game is highly praised for its engaging mechanics, immense replayability, and the ability to mix and match various expansions that introduce unique strategies and challenges. While the learning curve can be moderately steep, players appreciate the depth and complexity that the game offers, making it suitable for both casual and hardcore gamers. However, some users note that the interface can be confusing at times, and the game may lack competitive interaction between players, but overall, it provides a fun and dynamic experience.
- “The gameplay is easy to learn and each game takes on a different life (i.e. you will never have the game play the same way twice).”
- “The game's mechanics are easy to learn but offer plenty of depth and complexity for experienced players, making it a great choice for both casual and hardcore gamers.”
- “The game offers a variety of gameplay modes, including single-player, online multiplayer, and cross-platform play, making it accessible to players of all levels.”
- “However, my biggest gripe is with the gameplay itself.”
- “Gameplay doesn't always work the way you think it will, so be sure to check the rules if you are uncertain.”
- “Some expansions add new mechanics that give a different flow to the game, so if you play with all expansions active, the deck becomes too diluted and makes some of those mechanics lose their impact and synergies.”
graphics
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
57%
5%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique and stunning artwork that enhances the overall aesthetic experience. While some players appreciate the immersive visuals and intuitive interface, others criticize graphical glitches and scaling issues on PC. Overall, the art style is considered a significant draw, though opinions vary on its appeal and execution.
- “The intuitive interface and stunning artwork create an immersive game world that draws players in and keeps them engaged.”
- “With its easy-to-learn gameplay, deep mechanics, stunning visuals, and wide range of gameplay modes and options, it's a standout title that is sure to provide hours of entertainment.”
- “Easily in my top 5, the port to digital is great - easy to pick up, layout is clear and easy to use, graphics are great, all around great game.”
- “Terrible graphics, confusing gameplay, and simply not fun.”
- “While I like the concept behind this game, the graphic design and the small font they used for each card makes the game pretty much unplayable.”
- “There is absolutely no option to modify the resolution or graphics (besides fullscreen/windowed) and the online multiplayer implementation is a joke.”
stability
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players noting it is somewhat buggy, experiencing issues like freezing, glitches, and AI problems. While some users report significant improvements over previous versions, others still find it frustratingly unstable, particularly in comparison to the mobile version. Overall, while the game can be enjoyable, potential buyers should be aware of its ongoing stability issues.
- “Some people complain about the UI, but it does its job. It's not buggy, it plays well, and is great fun.”
- “Initially the game was a port from iOS to PC, with all the UI design choices (read: limitations) that come with such a thing, and frequent bugs and glitches of all kinds.”
- “However, this PC version is buggy, frustrating, and broken.”
- “It is a buggy hot mess.”
replayability
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
50%
5%
The game offers immense replayability, bolstered by a variety of expansions that introduce new cards, challenges, and mechanics, allowing players to mix and match strategies. While the base game is already highly replayable, some limitations in multiplayer settings can cap the experience. Overall, players find the game engaging and dynamic, making it a great value for those seeking long-term enjoyment.
- “A very good deckbuilder: engaging gameplay, bizarre art, fitting soundtrack, immense replayability, and a fine balance of chance and planning.”
- “Base game is highly replayable and the expansions add even more cool cards and monsters.”
- “The game now runs perfectly and with all the expansions included in the base game, it's fantastic value for money and endless replay value.”
- “A fixed honor pool caps the game’s replayability, which would otherwise be quite extensive given its numerous expansions that yield different cards, challenges, and resource types.”
- “So as a purely solo exercise, it's fun to see what's in the various card sets and test strategies, but the lack of challenge hurts replayability.”
- “The game features many decks, therefore offering different approaches with various possibilities. It's amazing how this game evolves with each set, which adds more to the replay value. If one is bored with certain cards, they can play around with different decks, either specific or by adding all of them at once, so I would also recommend buying them as the base game only has a limited amount.”
music
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
61%
7%
The music in the game is generally well-received, enhancing the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience with a variety of soundtracks that fit different themes. However, some players find the default volume too loud and repetitive during longer sessions, and there are limitations in customizing the music settings, such as the inability to select specific tracks for gameplay. Despite these drawbacks, the soundtrack is considered enjoyable and contributes positively to the game's aesthetics.
- “A very good deckbuilder: engaging gameplay, bizarre art, fitting soundtrack, immense replayability, and a fine balance of chance and planning.”
- “I love the aesthetics of the game and the music is quite enjoyable as well.”
- “The music is there to set the mood and reinforce your decisions.”
- “Card art looks good, music is nice, although it can get repetitive in longer games.”
- “Definitely better with the music off, and the sound of cultists getting kicked really doesn't get old.”
- “- no bgm slider, music is either on/off (same with all sound options)”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
72%
17%
The story in Ascension is minimal, primarily serving to enhance gameplay mechanics rather than provide a deep narrative experience. Players build armies to combat evil monsters, with expansions offering limited lore and flavor text, but the absence of a cohesive campaign or mission structure detracts from long-term engagement. While some players enjoy the game for its mechanics and social interactions, others express a desire for a more substantial story mode.
- “Good system with great story and art.”
- “Each new expansion adds a few paragraphs about the lore in the rulebook section of the menu, and some cards have tidbits of story written on them.”
- “Ascension has a thin layer of lore and story, but those elements are primarily there to give the mechanics of the game some flavor.”
- “The simplistic story is that the player is building an army to face the evil monsters of the fallen one.”
- “I can get it fresh again by moving on to the next set of 2 expansions, but overall the lack of an over-riding campaign or mission structure hurts long term play.”
optimization
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
Overall, the optimization of the game has improved significantly since its initial release, particularly on PC, where it runs smoothly with good graphical quality and intuitive controls. While some users still report occasional performance issues, many have noted that bugs have been addressed over time, leading to a more playable experience across multiple devices. The game is generally considered to be well-optimized and is expected to become even more stable in the future.
- “I've played lots of Ascension on mobile and can happily say that the PC experience is excellent in terms of graphical quality and performance.”
- “After a year, they have sorted out all the annoying bugs in the Steam client and it now runs smoothly.”
- “It also has some performance issues sometimes.”
- “While I still think it's a wonderful game with some serious flaws, the performance issues at least seem to have diminished and it feels a lot more playable across my several devices.”
- “Do play it if you want a good game that I expect will be rock solid in time, as gameplay is optimized.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game to be a standout feature, often highlighting its hilarious moments and amusing sound effects. The comedic elements enhance the overall experience, making it enjoyable alongside its solid mechanics and visuals.
- “It has great mechanics, a really good working online mode, beautiful art, and funny sounds.”
- “Hahahaha hilarious adayu moment”
- “Funny enough, a friend and I started playing Dominion online, then found Ascension online... once again a drastically better game.”
monetization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as heavily reliant on microtransactions and DLC, resembling an advertisement for an overpriced physical board game rather than a standalone experience. Players feel that to access the full game, especially for multiplayer, they must spend significant amounts of money, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. Additionally, the requirement for a separate account raises concerns about marketing tactics and spam related to in-game purchases.
- “This game is an advertisement/demo for their extremely overpriced physical board game that they are charging players for, and if you want to play the full game with friends, you'll need to pay tons of money.”
- “Heavily laden with microtransactions and DLC, Ascension is trying to compete with heavyweights like MTG and Hearthstone.”
- “While multiplayer only and using Steam, they require a separate account, presumably so they can market things at you based on your email and spam you with microtransactions and advertising.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate that the game eliminates the need for grinding, as it is designed to avoid pay-to-win mechanics, allowing for a more balanced and enjoyable experience.
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for being fun and immersive, complemented by great original artwork that enhances the overall experience.
- “Fun, atmospheric, and features great original artwork.”

Buy Ascension: Deckbuilding Game

116h Median play time

97h Average play time

50-163h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs

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