Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer (A:CotG) is the iOS version of the card game of the same name. For those unfamiliar A:CotG is a deck-building card game designed by three Magic: The Gathering tournament champions. Where most collectible card games, like Magic: The Gathering, require you to construct decks that you will use for the game A:CotG starts both players with the same ten-card deck and tasks each player with building their own deck on the fly as the game progresses. This change in gameplay forces the player to develop their strategy based on multiple factors including card flow and observation of their opponents strategy. I’ll touch more on this after discussing the basics of the game. Read on.

How the Game is played

A:CotG is broken down into three numbers: Runes, Power, and Honor. Runes help you pay for cards to add to your deck. Power help you defeat monsters. Honor points are rewarded for defeating monsters or as perks of cards that are purchased. Each game starts with a set number of honor points (60 for a two-player game, 75 for a three-player game, and 90 for a four-player game) and ends when all honor points have been taken. If there are any players who have not had the same amount of turns as the player who receives the last of the honor points they will be able to take one last turn and earn honor points beyond the set number. At the end of the game each player receives a score based upon their total number of honor points combined with the total value of the cards in their deck. The player with the highest score wins the game.

Each player starts with ten cards in their deck, 8 Apprentice cards and 2 militia cards. An apprentice card gives you +1 rune while the militia card gives you +1 power. There are 6 cards in the center which are comprised of monsters to kill to earn honor points and hero or construct cards that you buy with the amount of runes you have that turn. You play as many of your 5 cards as you would like on your turn to receive the runes and power you will use that turn. So if you are dealt 4 Apprentice cards and 1 militia card to start the game you would be able to generate 4 runes and 1 power for your first turn. Being that there is nothing that you could kill with 1 power you would likely want to not play that card hoping to draw your remaining militia card the next turn. With 4 runes you would then be able to buy cards for your deck from the middle 6 cards. There are also a pile of 3 always available cards. These cards are Mystics which give you +2 runes, Heavy Infantry which gives you +2 power, and Cultists which you can kill with 2 power to gain 1 honor point. At this point you will have to decide your initial strategy based upon what you have in your hand, what 6 cards are in the middle, and what you think your opponent might do.

You might have noticed that I said “initial strategy” in that last paragraph. One of the more fun aspects of A:CotG is the fact that strategies often change during the game making it all the more important to pay attention to everything that is going on. If there are a lot of monster cards in the middle you would naturally want to start buying Heavy Infantry cards to be able to kill those monsters and gain precious Honor points. However, your opponent might do the same thing so you might want to buy Mystics to help you earn more runes to buy cards with and increase the value of your deck. The middle might initially be full of monsters but turn into nothing but heroes and constructs making all of those  Heavy Infantry purchases not such a good investment unless you like killing cultists for 1 measly honor point. The point is you will have to read the flow of the cards in the middle and what your opponent is doing and adapt your strategy on the fly making each game play out differently.

The strategy gets deeper than just whether or not you want to obtain more cards to increase the value of your deck or kill more monsters to gain more honor points. The different hero and construct cards have special abilities, many of which compliment each other. Some cards might help you draw more cards while others may allow you to banish cards from your deck or from the middle 6. Construct cards remain in play once they are played until they are banished by another player, usually as a reward for defeating a higher-level monster. Choosing the special abilities of the heroes and constructs you purchase is also an integral part of your strategy.

As an app

The transition from card game to iOS app was a smooth one for A:CotG. It feels very natural utilizing a touch screen and it is quite the looker. Everything from the menus to the card art is visually pleasing. The look and feel of A:CotG is very high quality. As with any card game the artwork needs to backup the gameplay and A:CotG does not disappoint. The app offers new players a playable tutorial to help teach them how to play the game. It is very easy to follow and once completed players have a deep enough understanding to begin playing the game. Along with the overall look of the game, the music and sound are also very well done. The music fits the game very well and definitely sets the mood to play the game. The touch screen controls are spot on and you won’t find yourself stumbling through the menus or fumbling the cards during play.

As far as game modes are concerned you can play A:CotG either single player against up to 3 computer AI’s, pass and play on a single iPhone or iPad, or asynchronously online against up to 3 other players. There are currently 2 difficulty levels that you can set the AI to for single player games. You will lose to the easiest opponents early one but once you begin to pick up on the different strategies you will start to win your fair share against them. Once you have mastered that level you can bump it up to the higher AI and start working your way through that new challenge. If you feel brave enough you can take the challenge online versus some very skilled A:CotG players and cut your teeth there.

Final thoughts

A:CotG offers just about anything you could want from an iOS card game app. The fact that it is a universal app that can be played on both iPhone and iPad makes it an even more attractive app. While the game looks and plays great on an iPhone the game really shines on the big screen of the iPad. If you are a fan of fantasy card games Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer is a very nice addition to the genre on the iOS that offers a different style than what you usually see out of fantasy card games by having you build your deck on the fly and adapt your strategy on the fly. Grade: A-

Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer

Link: Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer