New Game Round-up: Conquering Desktopia, Learning Ascension & Reworking Fairy Tale

This house of ours – we don't understand the laws of motion of the giants, or remember when we came to the floor, or know when the light will be shed from the ceiling, but this is our house. Here we tame wild monsters, create streams of sparks, storm the heights under the ceiling, and set off into the unknown of the outside. Here we are at war with each other, upholding the principles of the Great Orders, and each table of this house is a place for our battles. We, the people Nastola!

Desktopia is a disc-flicking game for 1-4 players that can be played on any flat surface. Each player controls one of four Orders of Nastola: unpredictable Fire, indomitableGrass, resourceful Metal and sinister Dust. Each order has unique powers, and the discs can eliminate or paralyze opponents, capture artifacts or strengthen one of your own units. Components on the table can be incorporated into the game as obstacles or goals.

Ascension is a deck-building game in which players spend Runes to acquire more powerful cards for their deck, while spending Power to defeat monsters and gain Honor. Gameplay is similar to other deck-building games, with the player adding cards to his deck by purchasing them from a central deck, which has the top six cards revealed and available for purchase. When cards are removed, they are replaced with a new one from the top of the deck. Victory points are earned in three ways: first, each card purchased is worth one or more victory points; second, victory points can be gained by defeating monsters with a power resource featured on several of the cards; and third, some cards give victory points directly each time they are played.

All the cards in Ascension: Apprentice Edition feature new frames to assist players in telling the Heroes apart from the Constructs. The card borders are colored differently for the starting deck, the center deck, and "always available" cards to make sorting easier at the end of the game. The set also includes new art for many cards, as well as retouched versions of old favorites.