I just realized I haven’t yet mentioned the work of a good friend of mine, Justin Gary, whose new game Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer is going to be officially released at GenCon.  Justin is a former Magic champion who turned his gaming prowess into a major career; he was the lead designer of the World of Warcraft Miniatures game (which was a major success, though I have to admit I wonder if there’s anything connected to World of Warcraft which could be a failure at this point!), and now he’s about to launch his first of (with luck) many games under his own brand.  Ascension is a really cool card game for two players, with echoes of Dominion and other deck-building type games (though better, in my opinion…I’ve already had a chance to playtest an early version of it).  But this is going to be more than just a awesome game with cool artwork–Justin has a whole array of things planned for this IP, including media spinoffs and the like. 

I’ll admit to being a bit biased here, since I’ve been doing some freelance writing for the project, including flavor text on the cards and some introductions to the various playable factions, and I might be doing more work before all’s said and done.  And hell, it’s fantasy…what’s not to like?  But beyond those things, Justin’s an excellent designer, and if you’re even vaguely interested in games (and who isn’t?) you should definitely check this one out.

Greg