I don’t have much to say about the latest Ascension expansion, Ascension: Dawn of Champions. The new mechanism never super grabbed me, and when I had spare moments, I was more likely to play Alphabear; I ended up not even giving the multiplayer a try. (Though, incidentally, Miranda and I have started playing the original Ascension together not infrequently.)

The thing I do like about the new mechanism is that it gives you a nudge (a shove, really) towards one of the factions: cards of one faction give you a potential bonus by leveling up a champion, and monsters have factions now. And there’s a potential mechanic of how much you focus on leveling up your champion (which you can even pay for) versus getting the best card on the board.

But I didn’t find that mechanic working out super well in practice: in particular, paying to advance my champion didn’t seem to pay off. And there’s a chaining mechanic where, sometimes, if the next card that comes off the deck is the right faction, you can acquire it for free: that’s a huge reward for something you have no control over, and I don’t think that helps the game.

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