Board and card games are some of the simplest ways to witness the efficiency and attention to detail being put to work in virtual spaces. Being able to replicate these personal gaming experiences is a testament to the platform’s future even outside of games, having users manipulate cards, figures, and boards as if they were on a table in front of them — similar to Tabletop Simulator. You can also welcome friends into a lot of these experiences, bringing friendly game nights to a virtual space. Ascension VR is one of the earliest examples of this, along with Dragon Front, and is receiving an update that takes the game’s content and interaction to the next level.

Ascension VR is a virtual deck building game that has animated avatars that lip sync with your table speak and mimic your movements. In the game, players operate with a hand of apprentices and militia that both provide unique resources: Runes and Power. Honor is the game-winning resource that is accrued as you hire heroes, build constructs, and defeat monsters. The new expansion, dubbed War of Shadows, introduces a night/day mechanic and powerful new heroes and constructs that require spending of both types of resources. The new update includes 10 new monster, 24 new heroes, and 9 new construct cards. On top of all this, the game is including Oculus Touch compatibility in this expansion as well.

While games do operate fine with just headsets and gamepads, the Touch implementation takes the immersion to the next level. The update should also speed up gameplay since players can quickly and naturally progress through matches with hand motions. The base game is available on Steam for $9.99 and can be purchased with the War of Shadows expansion for $15.28. If you already own the game, War of Shadows can be purchased separately for $7.99.

If you want to learn a bit more about the game, check out our previous article that discusses the game’s curious origins.