Comparison

Ascension vs Tabletop Gaming

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Ascension

Engage in a strategic deck-building card game where you acquire cards to gain Renown and unlock powerful Boons. Battle against the Fallen One alone or with friends, with expansions available to deepen the experience.

Highlights
  • Deck-building card game mechanics
  • Single-player and multiplayer modes
  • Unlock powerful Boons and Legendary status
  • Cross-platform online play
  • Offline AI opponents
  • Multiple expansions available
Features
Read full description

***Legends Expansion Now Available!** Return to the world of Vigil as the Muses of Malevolence rise to bring ruin. Legendary Heroes from Ascension’s past have returned to guide you, granting their power to those who prove worthy. Each card you acquire or defeat grants Renown with its factions, advancing you on the Legendary Track. As your Renown grows, unlock powerful Boons from Legendary Characters and, at the pinnacle of a faction’s track, gain Legendary status with the power to acquire or defeat one card from that faction for free each turn. Ascension: Deck Building Game, is the award winning deck building card game for mobile. Play alone or with friends to battle against the Fallen One for honor and victory. Conceived and designed by Magic: The Gathering tournament champions, Ascension will provide hours of engaging and strategic game play for enthusiast and experienced gamers alike. 2011 Golden Geek award winner (Best Mobile/Handheld Game) Pocket Gamer Bronze Award 2011 Dice Tower Awards Awards: Best Digital Boardgame Best Interface and Graphic Design - 2011 Best Online Multiplayer - 2011 Highlights: • Universal Application: Plays on phones and tablets • Beautifully detailed cards • Full asynchronous support for multiplayer online games • Cross-platform online play • Play against multiple offline A.I. opponents • Multiple expansions available to purchase to expand the Ascension experience! *AN INTERNET CONNECTION AND PLAYDEK ACCOUNT ARE REQUIRED FOR ONLINE PLAY.* Per our Terms of Service, you must be 13 years old or older to use the Playdek online games service. Also by Playdek: - Twilight Struggle - D&D: Lords of Waterdeep - Labyrinth: The War On Terror - Fort Sumter - Fluxx Having an issue? Looking for support? Please contact us at: support@playdekgames.com You can follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram! Facebook: /playdek You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/playdek Twitter: @playdek Instagram: @playdek

About

Tabletop Gaming

This app delivers a monthly digital magazine focused on board games, card games, RPGs, and wargames. It features news, reviews, interviews, and guides, with exclusive digital content and a mobile-optimized reading experience.

Highlights
  • Monthly magazine content
  • News and reviews
  • Interviews with designers
  • Miniatures painting guide
  • Mobile-optimized reading
  • Night reading mode
  • Adjustable text size
Features
Read full description

Tabletop Gaming is the UK’s only monthly magazine dedicated to all types of gaming on your tabletop. From board games, card games, roleplaying games and miniatures we have you covered every month in 100 pages. Extra digital content is available only with the digital edition including exclusive images, videos, podcasts and more! PLUS, with a specially designed mobile edition, wave goodbye to zooming and say hello to night reading mode, adjustable text size and accessing all things gaming at the touch of your fingertips. 
With tons of reviews of new releases each month you’ll never be in the dark about what you should play next.

 Each issue: 
• Latest news and reviews to discover new favourite games
 • Dive deep into how games are made in interviews with world famous designers
 • In-depth features
 • Ten of the Best games lists
 • Tabletop Gaming Live Event news
 • How we made and have you played articles
 • Learn new tricks with our miniatures painting guide 
• Get to grips with the classics that have passed you by 
• The indie shelf, showcasing unknown gems 
• Event reports from the world of tabletop gaming 
• Shop spotlights to find your new gaming café ---------------------------------------------- This is a free app download. Within the app users can purchase the current issue and back issues. Subscriptions are also available within the application. A subscription will start from the latest issue. -The subscription will renew automatically unless cancelled more than 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, for the same duration and at the current subscription rate for the product. -You may turn off the auto-renewal of subscriptions through your Account Settings, however you are not able to cancel the current subscription during its active period. -Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription to that publication is purchased. -If a subscription offers a free trial, at the end of the trial period, you will be charged the full price of the subscription. You may cancel a subscription during its free trial period via the subscription settings on your iTunes account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the subscription period to avoid being charged. Users can register for/ login to a pocketmags account in-app. This will protect their issues in the case of a lost device and allow browsing of purchases on multiple platforms. Existing pocketmags users can retrieve their purchases by logging into their account. We recommend loading the app for the first time in a wi-fi area so that all issue data is retrieved. If your app will not load past the splash page after a first install or an update, please delete and reinstall the app from the App Store Help and frequently asked questions can be accessed in-app and on pocketmags. If you have any problems at all please do not hesitate to contact us: help@pocketmags.com -------------------- You can find our privacy policy here: http://www.pocketmags.com/privacy.aspx You can find our terms and conditions here: http://www.pocketmags.com/terms.aspx

Screenshots

Ascension4 screens
Tabletop Gaming4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Tabletop Gaming at 4.6 against Ascension's 3.4. Ascension's advantage is ratings volume (1.1K vs 29) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 5 months). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Ascension sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Tabletop Gaming sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tabletop Gaming holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ascension has 1.1K ratings behind it against 29, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Ascension's written reviews are positive against 54% of Tabletop Gaming's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ascension ships an update every 3 months, Tabletop Gaming every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Ascension versus Tabletop Gaming: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAscensionTabletop Gaming
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (1.1K ratings)4.6 (29 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews — better53.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1K — better29
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.2 GB38 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperPlaydek, Inc.Warners Group Publications PLC

Customer experience

Ascension

All ratings1,103 ratings
Positive57.0%
Neutral8.7%
Negative34.3%
Written reviews822 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral9.6%
Negative30.4%

Tabletop Gaming

All ratings29 ratings
Positive93.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive53.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative46.2%

Bugs and requests

Ascension

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Purchases disappearing after updates
  • Restore function not working
  • Crashes when certain cards are played
  • Constructs getting stuck in the middle of the screen
  • Game freezing and logging out users

Requested features

5 requests
  • Increase honor pool limit for online games
  • Add custom deck building options
  • Optimize for iPhone X and newer devices
  • Provide option to revert to old art style
  • Improve online multiplayer experience

Tabletop Gaming

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Ascension

One-time10
  • Storm of Souls expansion$0.99
  • Promo Pack 1$0.99
  • Immortal Heroes expansion$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Ascension Promo Cards - Pack 4$0.99
  • Rise of Vigil$0.99
  • Darkness Unleashed expansion$0.99
  • Realms Unraveled expansion$0.99
  • Dawn of Champions$0.99
  • Dreamscape$0.99
  • Return of the Fallen expansion$1.99
10 purchases

Tabletop Gaming

Subscriptions2
  • Tabletop Gaming Auto Renewable Subscription$19.993 Months
  • Tabletop Gaming Auto Renewable Subscription1 Month trial$79.991 Year
One-time8
  • Issue One (id:799153)$6.99
  • Issue Two (id:799150)$6.99
  • Issue Three (id:799151)$6.99
Show 5 more
  • Issue Four (id:799152)$6.99
  • Issue Five (id:799677)$6.99
  • Issue Six (id:799681)$6.99
  • Issue Seven – D... (id:799685)$6.99
  • June 2018 (#19) (id:801344)$6.99

Questions

Is Ascension free?
Ascension is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tabletop Gaming free?
Tabletop Gaming is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ascension or Tabletop Gaming?
Tabletop Gaming is rated higher. Ascension averages 3.4 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Tabletop Gaming averages 4.6 from 29 ratings.
Do Ascension or Tabletop Gaming have ads?
Neither Ascension nor Tabletop Gaming shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ascension or Tabletop Gaming?
Ascension ships an update every 3 months, and Tabletop Gaming every 5 months. Most recently, Ascension was updated on November 3, 2026 and Tabletop Gaming on November 1, 2026.

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