Re-Discover Undersea Intrigue In Abyss Classic Board Game

By Christopher Guyton | March 5th, 2020 | Categories: Board Game Reviews, Board Games, Product Review

Smugglers, black pearls, and fighting monsters… Re-Discover undersea intrigue in Abyss! It’s a classic board game that still has teeth!

Abyss is an older game from one of my favorite designers, Bruno Cathala. In fact, Abyss is celebrating it’s fifth year anniversary and is releasing a special edition to commemorate this event.

Abyss Board Game: $49.99

Get It For Less At Miniature Market

For centuries, creatures without peer have ruled the depths of the ocean. Their kingdom, called Abyss, is respected by all their allied races, who are glad to receive protection from the fearsome monsters of the deep. But soon the throne of Abyss will be vacant…Why not claim it for yourself?
Time is pressing: only a few days remain before the next monarch will be nominated. You must expand your influence so you appear to be the clear choice. It is urgent that you:

• AFFILIATE the best representatives of the ALLIED RACES;

• RECRUIT honored LORDS (and benefit from their powers); and

• CONTROL important LOCATIONS in the kingdom

Your success depends on your ability to make the right choices. Keep in mind that in the depths of the sea, money fuels conflict – so managing your precious pearls properly is key to controlling events – and, of course, luck only favors the bold!

Ages: 14+
Players: 2-4
Game Length: 45 minutes

Re-Discover Undersea Intrigue In Abyss Classic Board Game

Abyss is a one to four-player set collection game with drafting and auction/bidding elements. With the Leviathan expansion, you can add a fifth player.

In Abyss you are an undersea politician trying to secure the throne. In order to do this, she will recruit the help of various allies and lords from the different undersea races. The first way you can go about this is to explore the depths. This way you can recruit various allies.

Each ally is numbered one through five and can be used to recruit lords. Some lords require specific races to be recruited such as crab or seahorse. Some lords even require multiple races.

Exploring the depths can also reveal dangers such as monsters. When a monster is revealed you can choose whether or not to fight it for a reward or pass it up to increase the reward. When revealing an ally you must first offer it up to your opponents. The first ally revealed is worth one pearl. Each subsequent LA is worth an additional pearl to the next opponent.

Once all opponents have made one purchase from you they can no longer purchase. You may then take the next revealed ally for free or push your luck to continue on. Once you decided on the ally you may take it into your hand, this will allow you to purchase Lord’s later on.

Each subsequent ally is worth an additional pearl to the next opponent. Once all opponents have made one purchase from you they can no longer purchase. You may then take the next revealed ally for free or push your luck to continue on.

Reaching the end of the depths track forces you to take the last revealed ally. The good thing is, you will also receive a pearl from the supply as well. Once you decided on the ally you may take it into your hand, this will allow you to purchase lords later on.

Lords are extra special cards that have various abilities that could be used either when recruited or each round. Some Lords even have a key printed on the card. Keys are very powerful and once three keys are obtained you may then take a location card.

Locations are a great method for scoring end game points. Once a Lord who has a key is used to purchase a location they are seated and lose their special ability. This will happen automatically once three keys are obtained.

When allies are used to recruit lords, the one with the lowest value will possibly score victory points. The points are their face value and at the end, the ones with the highest value score.

Another action you can take is to visit the council. Allies that are not recruited during the exploration action, filter down into a council pile based on its race. So instead of exploring the depths you can pick one of the piles of allies and take the whole stack instead. Granted you will likely get a handful of low-level allies but it’s not all bad.

Speaking of the various races in Abyss, they all form guilds. The guild reflects how and what abilities the lords will have. The Crab guild acts like the military and has confrontational abilities. The Mollusks are the merchants and traders. They mostly have abilities that yield pearls, which is the currency of Abyss.

The Jellyfish are the mystics and seers of the deep. They have very powerful manipulation abilities. The Seahorses make up the farmers and agriculture guild. They typically won’t have abilities but will instead be worth much higher victory points. Finally, the Octopus guild is considered politicians. They have abilities that affect recruiting Lords.

Gameplay continues until a player recruits the seventh lord, or the lord track cannot be refilled completely. You then calculate your lords, affiliated allies, locations, and monster trophies. The player with the most points will be the next ruler of the sea!

Abyss is such a fun and uniquely themed game. I love the pearls used to track currency. They look amazingly realistic and add to the ascetics of the game. Each card has beautiful artwork and gives a sense of a living undersea world. The gameplay is fantastic and easy to pick up.

There are also two great expansions for Abyss. The first, Kraken adds a new set of lords known as the smugglers. They are considered shady black market dealers. The expansion also adds black pearls and Kraken allies. Both are very powerful but can make you lose points if used too recklessly.

The second expansion, Leviathan, adds combat to the game. This also makes fighting monsters a bigger part of the game. You can be rewarded for defending the kingdom or punishment for cowardice by running from the monsters.

As stated before while Abyss is an older game, it definitely stands the test of time. I definitely recommend you give this classic title a try. I hope this one hits the table at your best game night.