Ascension Legends

Overview

Ascension Legends is a 1–4 player fantasy card game designed by Justin Gary and published by Stone Blade Entertainment. The session I played was a two-player game during a quiet weekly meet-up; my friend taught the rules and handled setup. The box pushes the core Ascension formula—deckbuilding—but layers in bag and pool building elements and progression tracks that give bonuses depending on which cards you acquire. The official playtime listed is about 60 minutes, and the complexity registers as medium; that description matched my experience: rules were mostly clear, the teaching took a single walkthrough, and play felt approachable for players with mixed familiarity.
I would recommend Ascension Legends most to players who already enjoy Ascension or other engine-oriented deckbuilders. If you like quick turns, short setup (I clocked setup at 5–10 minutes), and a moderately thinky game where you pursue card combos and climb small tracks for incremental benefits, this will fit well on your table. I think the game balances luck and skill—cards and the pool introduce variability, but card synergy and track choices reward planning. The session left me rating it 7/10: I appreciated the fast pace and teachability, but I question whether its changes distinguish it enough from previous Ascension iterations to justify replacing other entries in my collection.