14 DAY TRIAL // If a stranger watches me play 20 or 30 minutes of Game of Thrones: Ascent, either on Facebook or on the official Disruptor Beam website, and knows nothing else about my gaming habits, I will probably quickly be classified as a casual gamer.
The game has mechanics that might remind me of some of classic social games, which rely on repetitive actions and on persuading the player to buy limited resources using real world money.
Game of Thrones: Ascent does have a Gold resource that can be very helpful, but I never felt forced to pay for it and I am currently one of the top 800 players and I only used real world money in the game once for an item I felt an emotional connection with.
At the same time I have spent as much or more time with the title than with any other AAA release of 2013, save probably Football Manager 2014.
And I do this because the title, which was launched more than one year ago and is based on the television series from HBO that itself is based on the books from George R.R. Martin, involves a lot of clicking, plenty of tactical thinking and coordination with a large number of other players inside an alliance.
The clicking part of the experience might feel a little repetitive but I have moments when I enjoy it because it manages to show that effort, even if only for the mouse hand, is required in order to achieve something noteworthy.
The tactical thinking is based mostly around the use of equipment, limited boons and other bonuses in order to defeat enemy swords and get the resources required for new items, upgrades and, ultimately, the creation of a powerful dragon.
The coordination within my Game of Thrones: Ascent alliance might be the best element of the entire experience, because it involves real people who are coming together to create an execute plan that sometimes is too complex for their own good.
I am sure that there are plenty of fans of the source material who only play in order to get another dose of lore and to remain connected to the universe created by R.R. Martin.
But among the casual players who are enjoying Ascent lurks, a mass of truly hard core gamers who might never be identified as such by anyone who’s not involved with the title.