Recruit lords, rally your allies and take the throne!
I was browsing games in a massive store about ten years ago when the artwork of Abyss caught my eye. When adding games to my collection, I always strive to find something mechanically different from all the rest (unless the artwork is beautiful or the theme is a favorite of mine). Abyss has a bidding mechanic I had never seen before, so it was a clear choice to bring home.
In Abyss, players vie for the throne by earning the trust of political lords and controlling important locations throughout the ocean depths. You must also bid to gain the support of allies within the kingdom. The more influential your allies and lords are, the more likely you are to assume the throne!
This universe has six factions: Farmers, Soldiers, Politicians, Mages, Merchants, and Ambassadors. Farmers are valuable since they provide food for all and therefore are worth a high amount of points. Soldiers allow you to attack your opponent's resources but are not worth a lot of points. Politicians help by manipulating the court and its lords. Merchants can make you wealthy. Mages can bend the will of the allies.
Will you lead by earning the support of all factions in the depths of the sea? Or will you hone in one on faction and earn their utmost support and control their lands?
Mechanics: Bidding, Resource management, Memory
ART: 9/10
Bright, glowing colors stand out against a deep, dark ocean background. The level of detail in each of the lord’s features is outstanding. Their appearance fits the faction to which they belong.
The artist displays light sources phenomenally using gradients and glowing textures. The publisher knows that the art was so well done that they offer five different box covers to choose from! If I moved the game components into a separate box, I could see myself hanging this box on the wall as artwork for my game room.
STORYTELLING: 7/10
The mechanics, the artwork, the board layout; all these tiny details add up to tell the story of vying for the throne. The arched display of the factions is reminiscent of a courtroom or amphitheater where you give a speech. Having the most money to buy the loyalty of allies will give you an edge.
When monsters appear, defeating them will earn you the trust of the factions from the depths. If you earn the trust of a lord, they will offer their services to lead you to victory. The ambassadors are the most difficult lords to sway, requiring all the factions' buy-in.
Each of these actions a player must take to succeed blend well with political agendas in real life. Maybe political stories aren’t your cup of tea, but the fact is, this game does tell a story and, though subtly, does it well. Even though the driving factor is politics, you don’t have to be a fan of politics in order to love this game!
COMPONENTS: 6/10
Many games just use cardboard punch-outs for currency, but Abyss uses plastic pearls! Abyss even comes with plastic clamshell bowls to prevent them from rolling away from you. This game has seen consistent play since we bought it, and it shows. The box and the cards are very worn. I advise you to sleeve your cards to increase their lifespan. I like the cards' varying sizes: allies are small, and lords are large.
The locations are large, thick cardboard tiles that perfectly cover up three of your lords (which is part of the game). There are also monster tokens and keys cut out in unique shapes that feel nice to have in your possession as extra points at the end of the game. Having an actual key makes it feel like you are unlocking a location.
A custom-made score pad organizes scoring at the end of the game to make the tear down much faster. The custom-shaped cutouts, pearls, and plastic storage all took into account the user experience and nailed it. It is always amazing when the box organizer has a place for each and every component!
COMPLEXITY: 3/10
This is a great gateway game for new players. You have three choices each turn, explore the depths to get an ally, take allies of a particular color, or use ally cards you already have to recruit a lord. You should try to acquire the allies with the highest values in order to recruit lords with lots of points and good abilities. There is a strategy for affiliating allies when recruiting a lord, but that optimization is better for experienced players.
With so many lords available, all players should be able to recruit them easily. Even kids can understand adding numbers of a specific color to recruit a lord. The low complexity doesn’t mean it’s easy to win, but understanding the game should take no time at all. With more plays, you will learn when to bet and how to optimize the pearls you obtain to score more points!
TRAVEL-FRIENDLY: 3/10
This one should stay in the box. It has a large playing board, and you will need extra space for your recruited lords and locations. There are a lot of separate loose tokens for fighting monsters that don’t easily fit in any organized container. The plastic shell dishes that come with the game are essential to holding onto your pearls, so you can’t really do away with those, either. You probably only want to bring this to a vacation home, not a hotel room.
UNIQUENESS: 6/10
I would not have bought this if it wasn’t unique to my collection. I have seen bidding subtly in some other games, but none that are quite like Abyss. This game blends resource management with bidding, along with a bit of memorization, to gain an edge over your opponents.
The mental flexibility is why I find this game more fun than your typical resource management game. For example, you could intentionally send a good ally down to the court when exploring in hopes that your opponents didn’t pay attention so that you can grab that ally from the court later. Finding ways to outbid your opponent to obtain better cards is unlike any game I have played before.
Final Comments
This was one of my collection's first few games, and we still play it. Whenever we are looking for a faster game but with medium weight, we will often get Abyss off the shelf. Set up and tear down is a breeze, making us choose this game more than others. There are many other great games I would want to play, but the setup is so tedious that I’ll often keep it on the shelf. That is definitely not an issue with this game.
This game has many strategies that make for a unique gameplay experience each time. Do you try to get your seventh lord as fast as possible and end the game quickly? Or do you try to optimize your every move and get the most points possible? There are some lords that I always want to have, but if they do not appear at the court, then my strategy is altered and forces me to think differently.
Abyss is excellent for families and friend groups alike, and the game doesn’t take much time. I think this is the sweet spot for entry-level gamers. It provides enough strategy for heavy gamers, but is simple enough for kids to pick up and play as well!
Similar To: Ticket to Ride, Century, Everdell
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Publisher: Bombyx Games
Game(s) Pictured: Abyss (Box Art - Green - The Keeper)
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