Ascension is a fantastic deck building game - probably the best. I've had the mobile app for quite some time and now having it on Steam makes it easier to play with friends. $10 gets you the base game and all expansions except the most recent one and the latest promo pack; considering the physical copies of these would probably run well into hundreds of dollars, and that this is an exceptionally well-made video game adaptation, it's 100% worth it.

If you're not familiar with deck builders, they're kind of like Collectible Card Games minus the "Collectible" part of it. Everyone begins the game with the same awful starter deck, and over the course of the game you obtain better cards to build your deck (hence the name) into something better. You can also banish cards out of your deck to get rid of those terrible starters.

Ascension works super well (and better than Dominion) because the randomness is both heavy, AND symmetrical. All buyable cards are in a center area that all players work with, so the randomness of the center row affects all players equally. The randomness of your deck is what you make of it; if you have a bad deck, it's because you made it that way. The extreme amount of randomness in the center row means you MUST adapt; you cannot simply rely on one cheese strategy to win like in a CCG. Not only that, but if other players spot you trying to set up for a specific combo, they can just buy or banish the cards you need, and prevent it. It's a game about thinking on your feet, coming up with new combinations on the fly, and adapting.

The expansions are well-made too. They add new mechanics, but nothing that drastically alters the base game, so much so that you can play with any combination of expansions (or even drop the base game decks entirely!)

Definitely recommend. Even if you've never tried the genre, this is a fantastic way to get into it.

Ascension is a fantastic deck building game - probably the best. I've had the mobile app for quite some time and now having it on Steam makes it easier to play with friends. $10 gets you the base game and all expansions except the most recent one and the latest promo pack; considering the physical copies of these would probably run well into hundreds of dollars, and that this is an exceptionally well-made video game adaptation, it's 100% worth it. If you're not familiar with deck builders, they're kind of like Collectible Card Games minus the "Collectible" part of it. Everyone begins the game with the same awful starter deck, and over the course of the game you obtain better cards to build your deck (hence the name) into something better. You can also banish cards out of your deck to get rid of those terrible starters. Ascension works super well (and better than Dominion) because the randomness is both heavy, AND symmetrical. All buyable cards are in a center area that all players work with, so the randomness of the center row affects all players equally. The randomness of your deck is what you make of it; if you have a bad deck, it's because you made it that way. The extreme amount of randomness in the center row means you MUST adapt; you cannot simply rely on one cheese strategy to win like in a CCG. Not only that, but if other players spot you trying to set up for a specific combo, they can just buy or banish the cards you need, and prevent it. It's a game about thinking on your feet, coming up with new combinations on the fly, and adapting. The expansions are well-made too. They add new mechanics, but nothing that drastically alters the base game, so much so that you can play with any combination of expansions (or even drop the base game decks entirely!) Definitely recommend. Even if you've never tried the genre, this is a fantastic way to get into it.