Governing an undersea Kingdom
Do you like surprise boxes? Well we do, or at least Reni does for sure. š
Rationally it isnāt really worth it when you could just buy some game you want anyway. However the excitement and anticipation can be addictive. š Before Christmas we couldnāt resist ordering some surprise games and inside one of them was Abyss - a cool looking game that I have been wanting to try out for some time, but was afraid to get, as I didnāt know if we would like it.
Abyss is a pretty simple game, I think ideal as a gateway. During the game you collect cards of 5 different colors and values to recruit Lords who give you all kinds of abilities, and also serve as an end-game trigger. The way you acquire those cards kind of requires more players, so I think 2p is a bit bland unfortunately. It has a push-your-luck nature to it, as you can try searching for more powerful cards, but risk letting your opponents profit from it.
Lords have special abilities as I mentioned, but they also show key icons. If you gather 3 keys you can get a Location that provides an end-game scoring condition. An interesting twist is that these Locations will cover the Lords whose keys were used, so they lose their abilities.
One of the best features of the game are the pearls that are used as a currency. Everyone has a little holder so they donāt roll away, and they clink nicely as you drop them into it. š The art and colors of the game are also pretty awesome, though a con I want to mention is the box art itself. They have so many cool art pieces and they went with a huge ugly fish-dude for the box. š° Another strange design choice is how Locations are long punchboard tiles that take up a lot of space, when they could have been just cards instead. š§
There are some clever ideas here though, as it matters what cards you use to recruit the Lords, so skillful play nets some additional points. I also like how you can pick out scoring conditions for yourself with Locations and try to synergize your Lords with them. I believe this game could be a lot of fun with 3-4 players, but as it is I donāt think we will keep Abyss in our collection.
