Comparison

Ascension vs Dominion

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

Dominion

Build a powerful deck to expand your kingdom and earn victory points in this acclaimed deck-building strategy game. Explore vast card combinations, compete against AI or other players online, and enjoy endless replayability with numerous expansions.

Highlights
  • Deck-building mechanics
  • Kingdom expansion
  • AI opponent
  • Online multiplayer
  • Daily puzzles
  • Cross-platform play
  • Expansion packs
Read full description

Expand a small kingdom to a mighty Dominion! Play the Spiel des Jahres winner beloved by millions of boardgame hobbyists around the world. This is the officially licensed implementation. REIGNING DECKBUILDER Discover the game that defined a genre, Dominion was first to popularize deck-building and remains a staple of tabletop. GROW YOUR KINGDOM Collect as many Victory Points as you can by building a powerful deck. Your deck starts out a small sad set of Estates and Coppers, but you hope that by the end of the game it will be brimming with Gold, Provinces, and the inhabitants and structures of your kingdom. BUILD YOUR ENGINE Choose wisely among the 10 cards available in the tableau to create the strongest combos to dominate your opponent. COLLECT ALL EXPANSIONS Make your games more exciting with additional cards and rules from up to 15 expansions including the recent Plunder expansion! NEAR INFINITE VARIETY Over one hundred thirty-two septillion possible Kingdom combinations, 500+ cards, 15 and counting expansions, and ongoing promo packs make Dominion one of the most extensive and replayable boardgames in the hobby. COMPETE WITH THE COMPUTER Sharpen your skills with solitaire style solo play against a robust AI, with four levels of difficulty. Our innovative AI learns through self-play. Earn Achievements and win in Recommended Sets against each AI level. PLAY FRIENDS OR STRANGERS Play with up to 6 players online through your device or pass and play among your friends. Join ranked or unranked matchmaking, with realtime and asynchronous modes. Set up a private table for a family game, challenge a stranger in the lobby, or invite a friend! DAILY PUZZLE A daily ritual to relax with over a cup of coffee. Try the Daily Dominion, a free puzzle level available to players around the world. Practice your strategy to keep up a winning streak and climb the leaderboard. CROSS-PLATFORM PLAY Play from any supported device, whenever you want, after verifying your email in-game. Join games with opponents on platforms other than your own. JOIN THE COMMUNITY With an active Discord and online community, make new friends or challenge new people to a game. Export and share kingdoms and game summaries to compare strategies. FREE TO PLAY Download the game that started it all for free! The base set of Dominion is available at no charge. Try the rotation of expansion cards in the Daily at no cost once per day. Jump into a lobby game with expansions enabled to try before you buy. Only the host needs to own the expansions. INTRODUCTION TO TABLETOP Learn the ropes in this easy to pick-up, hard to master title. Play one of the most highly regarded strategy tabletop games of all time through our simple tutorial. The core loop is easy to follow, but offers a wealth of strategy to explore. • 1 - 6 player support • Five-hundred plus cards • Solo play against 4 AI difficulties • Async & real-time multiplayer • Ranked & unranked matchmaking • Lobby & Private game tables • Cross platform multiplayer • Cross platform purchases • Daily challenge • Challenging AI that learns through self-play • Recommended Sets • Customize, save & share Kingdoms • Achievements, Stats & Leaderboards • Pass & Play mode • Automated score-keeping & hints • Smart-play options to streamline gameplay • Jumbo mode for readability on phones • Turbo mode to zoom through games quickly • Tutorial & Rules • 4 languages: English, Japanese, German, French • 15+ expansions plus three promo packs

Screenshots

Ascension4 screens
Dominion2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Dominion at 4.9 against Ascension's 3.4. Dominion also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (68% vs 60%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Dominion sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dominion holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.1K and 5.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Ascension's written reviews are positive against 68% of Dominion's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ascension ships an update every 3 months, Dominion every 5 days. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ascension versus Dominion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAscensionDominion
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (1.1K ratings)4.9 (5.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews68.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K5.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.2 GB423 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperPlaydek, Inc.Temple Gates Games LLC

Customer experience

Ascension

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

Dominion

All ratings4,729 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews358 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral12.6%
Negative19.0%

User reviews

Ascension

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Awesome adaptation of the physical game
  • 🕹️ Engaging gameplay
  • 💰 Reasonable in-app purchase prices
  • 🕰️ Excellent time killer

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔄 Slow AI turns
  • 🔒 Issues with restoring purchases
  • 🔍 Cluttered UI, hard to read cards
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Dominion

From 5.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 🎮 Faithful adaptation of the board game
  • 👍 Challenging AI opponents
  • 🎨 Great visual design and animations
  • 📱 Convenient mobile experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches (e.g. crashes, card interactions not working as expected)
  • 🤖 Inconsistent or overpowered AI behavior
  • 💰 Expensive expansion packs
  • 🕰️ Slow animation speed for AI turns
  • 🔀 Lack of customization options (e.g. disabling certain cards, saving game setups)

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

Dominion

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Possession card not working correctly
  • Victory points not displayed properly
  • Inability to rejoin games after server disconnects

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to select specific card sets for randomized games
  • Option to complete games against AI when opponents forfeit
  • More detailed game statistics and player history tracking
  • Improved matchmaking filters for online play
  • Shareable in-app purchases for family members

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

Dominion

One-time10
  • Alchemy$4.99
  • Intrigue$4.99
  • Cornucopia$4.99
Show 7 more
  • Seaside$9.99
  • Renaissance$9.99
  • Prosperity$9.99
  • Dark Ages$9.99
  • Adventures$9.99
  • Empires$9.99
  • Rising Sun$9.99

Questions

Is Ascension free?
Ascension is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dominion free?
Dominion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ascension or Dominion?
Dominion is rated higher. Ascension averages 3.4 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Dominion averages 4.9 from 5.1K ratings.
Do Ascension or Dominion have ads?
Neither Ascension nor Dominion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ascension or Dominion?
Ascension ships an update every 3 months, and Dominion every 5 days. Most recently, Ascension was updated on November 3, 2026 and Dominion on November 3, 2026.

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