Game Of Thrones Ascent Gets Big October Update

For fans of the “Game of Thrones” TV series, the long wait for a new season is going to last into next year. But for fans of the “Game of Thrones Ascent” video game, new content is already here. Hey, winter comes in October in some places, right?

So what’s new? For starters, the addition of House Tyrell as a sixth playable faction. That means a new set of quests and items to explore. With dozens of added character portraits, players can make their new or existing characters look fresh as well.

Two new game systems have also been incorporated into the gameplay. The first is Item Enhancements, which enables players to add seals to either crafted or acquired items to boost their stats. Some seals can be purchased, but the most powerful ones will need to be won through Player-to-Player actions. Some items can even carry unique names, the better to represent powerful family heirlooms that can be handed down between reincarnations.

Alliance vs. Alliance combat and diplomacy is the other new system, intended to mimic the complex relationships between alliances in the original novels. Whether players’ taste is for war or negotiation—or maybe equal doses of both, since this is “Game of Thrones” after all—they’ll be able to take advantage of the ability to form alliance camps, track progress on historical leaderboards, and enjoy improved alliance chat.

“Game of Thrones Ascent” is playable in four different places (Facebook, Kongregate, DisruptorBeam.com, and ArmorGames.com), is free-to-play, and is worth checking out for anyone who needs a Westeros fix that includes something other than people complaining about the Red Wedding on Twitter.