Ascendancy

In Ascendancy the player takes on the role of leader of an alien species, tasked with guiding their people into space to explore and colonize other worlds. The player does this by building structures and space ships, researching technology and growing stronger through war or diplomacy.

Players begin with a single colony planet which must be developed. They can select several types of buildings to construct on the planet's surface and can eventually construct spaceships and leave the planet altogether. Ships travel to other solar systems along determined paths, called star lanes. Spaceships can peacefully colonize unoccupied planets or invade inhabited planets and usurp structures. They can also do battle with enemy planets or other ships.

Several of the species in Ascendancy describe motivations for reaching to the stars. Some species are peaceful diplomats; some are curious explorers; and others want to kill or conquer other forms of life. However, plot in Ascendancy is thin. Players are free to imagine a detailed storyline but most plot is restricted to a single introductory screen for each species and a synopsis given at the end of each game.

The Logic Factory said that inspiration for Ascendancy came from "[having] read the fantastic books or watched some of the great shows that have explored the possibility of human contact with intelligent alien life. We do believe that there is a high likelihood that among the many billions of stars and planets just in our own Milky Way, other life is out there. ...This [game] is our own way of being part of that inevitable adventure."

In 2010 the Logic Factory updated their website and announced that a remake of Ascendancy would be released for the iPhone and iPad, intended as "a fully upgraded remake tailored for modern wireless gaming." The Logic factory said the game would be similar to the original, but with "a complete overhaul" to the interface "in order to operate on mobile, wireless, touch screen devices", as well as having several "upgrades and modifications to the original AI."

Some reviewers sang high praises for Ascendancy upon release - the game won the Codie award for Best Strategy Software in 1996, while Next Generation Magazine called Ascendancy "one of the best space-strategy sims" and said "the variety of species will give you hours of replay value." In his 1995 PC Gamer review William R. Trotter called Ascendancy "simply the best game of its type yet published" and gave it the PC Gamer Editor's Choice award. Trotter was also one of the authors of the official Ascendancy strategy guide.

Bruce Geryk said "the graphics were excellent, and the method of ship design was quite engaging," while Andy Bucher of PC Gamer UK said "it looks great ... everything looks slick, clean and well designed ... Ascendancy mixes just about the right level of complexity and challenge with an intuitive interface, great graphics and the odd spark of humour." Bucher even noted that Ascendancy had "one of the best tutorials [he'd] ever seen", and said the game's "attention to detail and ease of use is much rarer than it should be."