Ascendia: Seasons of Thargos

First Impressions after Online Playtest

Ascendia: Seasons of Thargos is a game, which I got to know by chance. I saw a post with a picture in a group and thought that the game reminded me of „Euthia“ purely from the “keyword description”, which sounded exiting.

So I wrote to the designer Philipp and we met online to test the game. Since I hadn't looked into the game any further at first, I was surprised that the game wasn't at all what I had assumed it would be. It's not a big overland map co-op game, as I had first assumed, but a competitive “race to win + sandbox” game that can perhaps be considered a more complex family game level.

The great thing here was that Philipp categorized and described this really well, so that absolutely no false expectations could arise. Ascendia: Seasons of Thargos is set in the rather peaceful valley of the small and city of Ascendia. This is where the competing heroes gather to make a name for themselves with fame and become the new leaders of Ascendia.

The goal is within reach right from the start, as the hero only has to go into town and start a vote. This is also where the fun factor comes into play, because the game thrives on its push your luck element, but more on that later.

The map of the world is made up of different parts and consists of forests, mountains and grasslands etc.. Exploration tokens are also placed on these spaces. Each hero is also given a character board on which items and loot can be collected. This is where the open sandbox system begins, as all options are open to you right from the start, whereby the actions are not complex and easy to understand.

You can move around the map and, depending on where you go, uncover an event card. You can collect resources, fight enemies, trade or craft items. This is where the “a bit complexer family-friendlyness” of the individual elements comes into play:

Collected resources can be used to craft and improve items, and the equipment can improve the hero's 3 attributes, attack/trade/gathering. Now the question is, of course, why do all this? Ultimately, you try to collect “Reknown”, which you get by winning battles or adventures. With your Reknown you then move into the city and start the vote.

The trick here is that the more Reknowns you have, the more likely you are to win; if you fail a vote, you lose points and have to try again later. And this “knight of fortune” mood runs pretty much through the whole game, because all battles and other trials actually always require a dice roll. Here, higher values in an attribute sometimes give your the opportunity to roll more dice and this is both a blessing and a curse, because on the one hand there are exploding rolls, and a “5” can be rolled again and the new result added to the overall result, on the other hand there is the „flop“ result, which leads to a complete failure, even if there was only one flop.

Fortunately, there are also reroll tokens, which are extremely important for rerolling dice, but these tokens also need to be recharged from time to time. The dice rolling problem in particular is often a fun situation in a competitive game, and creates quite a “fun vibe”, which you have to like, of course. The heroes then make sure that they use their actions as profitably as possible, and the point is actually tactical, as you can't just trot across the map, but have to see what the opponents are doing and which enemies spawn where. You don´t have a huge Enemy Pool, but a handful of different enemies, some of which can be defeated in different ways.

At the end of the round, after all heroes have been activated, the map changes as winter slowly sets in and covers the land, making resources increasingly scarce, and if the land is completely covered in snow at some point, the game also ends.

There is even a solo mode, with very easy-to-use bot opponents that are activated using a dice, go in one direction and, if necessary, get Reknown and start a vote. This means that you can also play the game completely on your own, although the social fun component is then of course omitted and you have more of an efficiency puzzle task of collecting Reknowns as permanently as possible and being quicker than the bots. So in conclusion, who could the game be for?

The mixture is of course a little unusual at first, with the fantasy theme and the material design, which at first might not seem like the game you get It plays like a family/score race, something like “a very light Scythe”, where you trade resources, improve attributes, handle events. For families with an affinity for games and children who are up for something like this, it's definitely a good idea and if you also enjoy the theme, you're sure to have fun. At the same time, I can imagine it as a fun but not untactical nightcap, as a game doesn't even take an hour.

discovered at the cannes FIJ: very promising!

We are thrilled about this and yes I am the publisher so full disclamer there.

Had the privilege of paying this with my wife! It's such a good game. Had several goes at it and it was surprising each time!