Great game with expansions installed, but flawed AI – Ascension: Deckbuilding Game Review

In its free vanilla setup, the game is only ok and gets old quickly. What you can do is severely limited by what cards are available on your turn, and it feels like how you perform is completely dictated by pure luck. With the $5 expansion bundle pack (which includes the first three expansion sets as well as the first three promo card packs), your options open up immensely, and your ability to chain combos and maximize your cards' use, instead of pure luck, will often determine whether you win or lose. The $5 bundle pack is absolutely necessary and completely worth it if you want to get the maximum enjoyment out of this game. The problem -- and the reason why I knocked off one star -- is that, with the expansion packs installed, the AI gets a serious case of "analysis paralysis." Playing against three AI opponents at high difficulty settings, it's not uncommon to have to wait 3-4 minutes before it's my turn again. The AI routines need some serious overhaul and optimization. The upside is that the AI provides a good amount of challenge, and forced me to get good with chaining combos before I could beat them. Still, the slow AI keeps me from making additional purchases of expansion packs. New sets of options to consider can only add to AI's analysis paralysis, and it just does not seem worth it. (Hear that, devs? Your inefficient AI routines are keeping customers like me from making additional purchases! Fix it!)
Review by Tivor on Ascension: Deckbuilding Game.