Ascension: Card game for iPhone/iPad/paper

I've had 2 or three ties vs the AI.

SommerMatt wrote:
TheCounselor wrote:

58 points

Me wrote:

58 points

Never seen a tie before.

Yeah, that was weird. They should have let us play another round.

Good game, though.

TheCounselor wrote:
SommerMatt wrote:
TheCounselor wrote:

58 points

Me wrote:

58 points

Never seen a tie before.

Yeah, that was weird. They should have let us play another round.

Good game, though.

Well, the game highlighted YOU as being the winner. Not sure how that works. Person with the highest single honor point card? I suppose it must be in the rules somewhere how to deal with ties.

Tie seems to go to whoever has more game points rather than deck points. That's been the case in the 4 or so ties I've seen.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Tie seems to go to whoever has more game points rather than deck points. That's been the case in the 4 or so ties I've seen.

I'm pretty sure SommerMatt had more game points than me, though. Of course, I might be wrong.

TheCounselor wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

Tie seems to go to whoever has more game points rather than deck points. That's been the case in the 4 or so ties I've seen.

I'm pretty sure SommerMatt had more game points than me, though. Of course, I might be wrong.

I think you're right... I had more game points, you had more deck points.

Alright, I'm in. Game Center id is MrStrewth.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

There were comments on BoardGameGeek a few days back that indicated the same thing. Perhaps the Lite version was just a time-limited trial of the game that Incinerator Studios put out there to drum up interest?

(BTW, my Game Center ID is OzymandiasAV, if you want to play.)

Thanks for the invitation, I was hoping to try it out for free first to see if I like it though. Haven't played this type of game since I tried Magic the Gathering some 15 years ago..

It's not really much like Magic, in the way that football is really not much like soccer. If you're in good shape, fast, and generally athletic, you may be good at both. Similarly, there are some skills in the areas of strategy and evaluation that definitely translate, but the playing out of the game is not at all like Magic. It's closer to a Magic booster draft.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

It's not really much like Magic, in the way that football is really not much like soccer. If you're in good shape, fast, and generally athletic, you may be good at both. Similarly, there are some skills in the areas of strategy and evaluation that definitely translate, but the playing out of the game is not at all like Magic. It's closer to a Magic booster draft.

Good game, btw Fed.

I never played Magic, but from what I can tell I agree that it's really nothing much like it-- as I mentioned earlier, the biggest PLUS and biggest MINUS for/against Ascension right now is that it is seriously luck-based. This is great, because it really levels the playing field. You might be a veteran, might have more experience, and might have thought of different strategies, but it can all fall apart (or fall into place) based on the luck of the draw. If you're a really strategic gamer, I can see how this game would really annoy you.

I like it because it's all about making the best decision you can IN THE MOMENT. I'm not a maniac about cards and strategies, and I don't have the time to devote to other card games. Ascension scratches the itch for me, even if it's getting a bit... same-y of late.

Come on expansion!

Needs more cards for sure.

I LOVE Magic, but it gets crazy expensive. For $5, I've had countless hours of fun with Ascension.

And Matt, you would good game me after one where you beat the piss out of me! I wasn't expecting to win, but I didn't expect you to win by that many points.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

And Matt, you would good game me after one where you beat the piss out of me! I wasn't expecting to win, but I didn't expect you to win by that many points.

Eh... it was only like 10-12 points . Not that bad.

Although I will admit that I was baffled you didn't buy that 6 honor point card on your 2nd to last turn. I definitely snapped it up!

SommerMatt wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

And Matt, you would good game me after one where you beat the piss out of me! I wasn't expecting to win, but I didn't expect you to win by that many points.

Eh... it was only like 10-12 points . Not that bad.

Although I will admit that I was baffled you didn't buy that 6 honor point card on your 2nd to last turn. I definitely snapped it up!

Hmm. I don't recall. Too bad there's no replay!

I usually try very hard to maximize deck points towards the end of the game.

super-vague comment about the Ascension Lite app being pulled:

George at Incinerator Studios got in touch with iOS Board Games to let us know that Ascension Lite was indeed intentionally pulled from the App Store. The reason was because some "issues" with it were discovered. Incinerator is concentrating on the next steps for Ascension and will return to Ascension Lite in the future.

Sounds like people weren't buying the full game.

Can you do time-limited lite apps in the app store?

Fedaykin98 wrote:

And Matt, you would good game me after one where you beat the piss out of me! I wasn't expecting to win, but I didn't expect you to win by that many points.

Seeing as you called me out last time, I'll say "good game" again even though you actually DID "beat the piss out of me" in that last game.

I think you had something like 12 cards on the table at one point, and somehow owned the 6, 7, and 8 honor point constructs (as well as 5 or so of them in play during the actual game). Crazy.

So the Game Center seems to have auto-matched me with some cretins who never take their turns. I actually Forfeited the games just to get them off my Games List, but back they came. Does anyone know how to delete these games for good? I'd only like friends in my Game List, if possible.

And if anyone wants a really easy victory, I'm NatusM on Game Center.

Natus wrote:

So the Game Center seems to have auto-matched me with some cretins who never take their turns. I actually Forfeited the games just to get them off my Games List, but back they came. Does anyone know how to delete these games for good? I'd only like friends in my Game List, if possible.

I think the returning thing is some kind of bug. Annoys the pi$$ out of me. Fortunately, I only have one of those.

Btw, I'm behind on the GWJ Conference Call, so I've just this moment heard them talking about Ascension an episode back. Like Certis, I use the log a lot to see what my opponent is trying to do. I will say that it doesn't seem to me like there are a lot of strategies that really come to mean much other than the Mechana strategy. Yes, you can try to grab green cards and the Snapdragon and get lots of bonus points, but you may never see those cards, or the Snapdragon, in any particular game. I hope that the expansion really fleshes the game out.

My wife and I enjoy playing "live" against each other. I could see 4 people sitting around a table with their iDevices playing live on a Saturday night. iPad > iPhone, but the game is so good that I'm thrilled to have such a quality multiplayer game that is totally portable.

As I was telling my friends, this game needs to track at a minimum your lifetime W/L ratio, and your W/L v each opponent.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I could see 4 people sitting around a table with their iDevices playing live on a Saturday night.

God, that makes me cry. I love the app, and think it's a great implementation, but if I was going to play "IRL," I'd definitely go for the actual game game-- it's only $26-30 or so online.

EDIT:

I will say that I absolutely would rather play someone LIVE instead of async. There's something weird about a 20 minute game taking 2-3 days to play out.

News from GenCon about the expansion set:

Gary Games: I was able to meet with Justin Gary. At Gen Con they had a demo of Ascension running at there booth where players could try the app which included many of the Return of the Fallen expansion cards. He was able to show me the expansion running and you can view the details in the video below.. He expects it to be out this fall as an in app purchase, at a price point about half of the full app price (this is still TBD).

Video preview:

Anyone else noticed that the Reactor Monk doesn't work? He's supposed to drop the cost of your next construct by (1), but in both games where I've gotten him out and then purchased a construct that turn, I've paid full price.

Mr Crinkle wrote:

Anyone else noticed that the Reactor Monk doesn't work? He's supposed to drop the cost of your next construct by (1), but in both games where I've gotten him out and then purchased a construct that turn, I've paid full price.

I had that happen, but I think it actually changes the cost of the construct on the card itself. So when you look at the cost of the card, you pay that full amount, but if you didn't have him out the cost would've been one number higher. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I think that's what happened.

Aries wrote:
Mr Crinkle wrote:

Anyone else noticed that the Reactor Monk doesn't work? He's supposed to drop the cost of your next construct by (1), but in both games where I've gotten him out and then purchased a construct that turn, I've paid full price.

I had that happen, but I think it actually changes the cost of the construct on the card itself. So when you look at the cost of the card, you pay that full amount, but if you didn't have him out the cost would've been one number higher. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I think that's what happened.

Bing! Reactor Monk works. If you can't remember the normal cost of constructs, look for any mechano constructs. They are always cost=honor; with RM out, cost=honor-1.

Every example I've heard of a card not working has been a mistake, fwiw. And some cards appear not to work because their mechanics are complex. For example, Reactor Monk lowers the cost of your next construct that turn, but if you buy two in one turn, you'll see the cost jump up after you buy the first one. It can throw you off, but it's working as intended.

Yeah, I've seen the Reactor Monk work as expected multiple times, even when cloned. It doesn't show up in the resource pool (like The Grand Design or other constructs that give you extra runes), but it will reduce the cost on the cards themselves.

Since everyone loves this I guess I'll give it a go. So, umm, this is the same as Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer? I assume so, just making sure.

Yep it is. There is now an IAP for it as well, which is $3 and adds some interesting new cards. Multiplayer games can be played with the original cards, the expansion cards, or a mixture of both.

Seems that "godslayer" isn't a word that would be dropped when discussing it. Thanks, just wanted to be sure for sure.

I really liked this game for a while, but fell off playing once it began to feel "samey." Bought the IAP, but haven't played a single game since. Gotta get back into it.