# It's a Wonderful World: Corruption & Ascension ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2020 - **BGG Rating**: 8.1 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 1-7 (Best with: 4) - **Duration**: 45 min - **Weight**: 2.59 / 5 - **Designers**: Frédéric Guérard - **Artists**: Anthony Wolff, Frédéric Guérard - **Publishers**: La Boîte de Jeu, Engames, Evrikus, Geronimo Games, Kobold Spieleverlag, Lucky Duck Games, MTS Games, One Moment Games, Origames, Reflexshop, Studio Supernova, TLAMA games, Tranjis Games - **Categories**: Card Game, Civilization, Economic, Expansion for Base-game, Science Fiction - **Mechanics**: Closed Drafting, End Game Bonuses, Hand Management, Set Collection, Simultaneous Action Selection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Variable Player Powers ## Verdict Perfect for those who have mastered the base game and want more depth and more players. The corruption system adds a delicious layer of risk.Increases player limit to 7 playersCorruption mechanic creates great dilemmasNew pair-based scoring combosMaintains the base game's agilityRequires the base game to functionSlightly increases mental complexityRECOMMENDED ## Description If you already enjoy building your empire in It's a Wonderful World, the Corruption & Ascension expansion arrives to give your experience the necessary 'upgrade'. This isn't just a pile of new cards; it's a shift in the dynamics of how you plan your rise to the top. Now, rounds mix the classic Development cards with the new Ascension cards, forcing you to balance your traditional economy with fresh scoring opportunities. The real game-changer here are the Ascension cards, which bring fresh mechanics to the table. You'll deal with pair scoring (that satisfying feeling of completing combos) and, of course, Corruption. Yes, you can now take shady shortcuts to grow faster, but remember that every sin has its price at the end of the game. This layer of risk and reward adds a strategic tension that the base game lacked, turning hand management into a mental chess match: is it worth getting corrupted now to dominate later? Beyond the strategic depth, the expansion solves a common problem in drafting games: the number of people at the table. With this new deck, the player limit increases to up to 7 players! This makes the game perfect for those group gatherings where nobody wants to be left out, while maintaining fluidity thanks to the simultaneous action selection. If you love optimizing every resource and adore the feeling of seeing your civilization prosper (even if it's through a few shady schemes), this content is essential. It's the ideal expansion for those who felt they had already mastered the base game and wanted an extra challenge or more variety in their sessions. ## How to Play Objective of the Game In It's a Wonderful World: Corruption & Ascension, you are leading an empire through a period of rapid expansion and technological advancement. Your goal is to build a powerful civilization by constructing cards and managing resources. The player with the most Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the game wins. Setup To get your empire ready, follow these steps: Place resources on the game board (including Generals and Financiers); note that resources are not limited. Deal each player an Empire card. All players must select the same side of the card. Designate specific areas for your draft and construction. Game Flow The game consists of 4 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases where players act simultaneously: Draft: Each player is dealt 7 cards (5 classic cards and 2 ascension cards). Players then proceed to draft them in the direction shown on the game board, revealing every card publicly into your draft area. Planning: Each player decides which draft cards to Recycle (for its recycle bonus) and which to Slate for Construction. When using a recycle bonus, place the cards on a card slated for production, or on your Empire. If you finish a construction, use its construction bonus right away and place the card within your Empire. Production: This occurs in 5 phases, ordered by the game board. Your constructed cards produce a type of resources. Assign these to your cards slated for construction, or to your Empire card if unused. If you produced the most resources of a type (not tied), you gain the corresponding Supremacy bonus. Actions and How to Play During the Planning and Production phases, you will manage several mechanics: Construction: You select cards from your draft to be built. Cards produce in the round they are constructed. Recycling: You can choose to Recycle a card to gain its recycle bonus instead of building it. Discarding: At any time, you may discard a card slated for construction. If you do, you discard any cubes on it, but you gain its recycle bonus on your Empire card only. Resource Management: You may move red cubes (Krystallium) and characters off your Empire card to a card slated for production. You may not move other cubes once they are allocated to a construction or to your Empire card. Wild Cubes: 5 cubes of any type are transformed into a red (= wild) cube. Corruption: Corruption decreases production (which impacts Supremacy), though it cannot go below 0. End of Game and Scoring The game ends after the 4th round. Once the final round is complete, players tally their VPs based on the following criteria: Empire Card and constructions. Specific Card Scoring: Some cards provide VPs based on the number of constructions of a certain type, or the number of Generals/Financiers you control. Pair Scoring: Some cards score for each pair of other cards you hold. Note: Other resources and unfinished cards hold no value. Tips for Winning Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção. ## FAQ ### Do I need the base game to play? Yes! This is an expansion, so you need It's a Wonderful World to use these cards. ### Does the game slow down significantly with 7 players? Surprisingly, no. Since actions are selected simultaneously, the game time doesn't explode even with more people. ### Does corruption hurt players who play honestly? It creates a balance. Those who get corrupted grow faster but pay the price at the end; honest players have the advantage in final scoring. ### Is it hard to learn? If you already know the base game, it's quite easy. It's just new scoring rules and the Ascension card dynamics. ### Is it worth it if I mostly play solo or as a duo? Yes, because the new cards add variety and new strategies regardless of the player count. ## Price Comparison ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 19.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=4673365&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.72 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6848298&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.77 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6977566&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.80 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=7048333&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.84 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2443705&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2650186&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 27.99 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6079889&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 28.00 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=4814868&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 28.46 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=2656307&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 29.32 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6076834&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/35025/its-a-wonderful-world-corruption-ascension?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com