Ascension Legends

Justin's Design Diary

All game designers dream of making games that will last for generations, but none of us can predict whether we will succeed. There are, however, steps we can take to prepare a game to stand the test of time.  On the eve of the crowdfunding campaign for Ascension’s 17th expansion, nearly 15 years after its initial release, I wanted to walk through how we ensure that each year, the game continues to grow and change while still holding true to the core design that players love. Ascension Legends is designed to appeal to new players and fans of the game alike, and the campaign will include ALL of our previously released expansions, many of which have been unavailable for over a decade!  If this sounds cool to you, you can follow the campaign here. The rest of this article will talk a bit about the history of Ascension and then dive into the universal principles that allow us to create new, compelling content 15 years later.