Asmodee – Abyss – Game of Strategy.

Product Information

Any player recruits a Lord and the Court needs to be refilled, but there are not enough Lord cards left to completely fill the Court. The currency of the game is represented by opaque white pearls, which do a great job of carrying on the undersea theme. Players store their pearls in oyster shaped dishes, another great touch in line with the theme. If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Pearls win. If they are still tied, the one with the highest value Lord wins.

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Washing over all of that is some really excellent visual design. All of the symbology is very clear and understandable and the artwork is attractive and worth more than one look. Furthermore, there's a color code attached to both Allies and Lords; the former by race (Seahorses are yellow, Squids are blue, etc.) and the latter by guild (Merchants are green, Soldiers are red, etc.), so it's easy to remember which sets will work with the greater sets that they're purchasing. It also provides an easy reminder of how the Council, made up of Allies not taken in Exploration, can be a solid option if there are multiple purple Allies (Jellyfish) and, likewise, a number of Mage Lords waiting to be recruited. The level of complication is presented by the choices to be made and not by the rules themselves, which is why I think the game is so approachable by both gamerz and the norms. Even more importantly, it's a set collection game that actively encourages interaction between players. This isn't just a tableau-builder where you spend the whole evening staring at the six inches directly in front of you. You have to pay attention to what others are doing before they spoil your plans and the drafting action, of course, is one of the crucial moments in that whole approach. I ended up really enjoying Abyss and seemed to constantly wanting to give it another play. I know 5 Tribes was Bruno Cathala’s hit game to come out of Gen Con 2014, but I think Abyss shouldn’t be overlooked. It ended up being a really clever card game with a good mix of interaction between players and mechanics. At its heart it may just be a simple set collection game, but there is a surprising amount of depth in this medium weight game.I can talk about the different types of cards, the game board, or the various tokens that come with the game, but the first thing that is going to hit you in the face is the absolutely STUNNING artwork in Abyss. Artist Xavier Collette did an amazing job with his illustrations. From the second you open up the box (which comes in 5 different covers), you are greeted with a variety of highly thematic visuals. From the variety on the Lord cards to the excellently illustrated game board (that shows the council chamber), I just loved everything about the artwork in Abyss. This is easily one of my favorites to come out in a long time. The game ends when a player completes their Senate Chamber by placing their 15th Lord. Influence points are awarded from the players Lords, locations, greatest connected Lords Coalition from one colour and the Pearl Master token. The player with the most points is the winner. Final Thoughts In my opinion, the rulebook would have been stronger if the “clarifying” section hit on each Lord and Location instead of just a handful. I can understand how different players might interpret some of these cards differently and we should never have to go to an auxiliary source to get accurate information. This aside, the rest of the rules are laid out perfectly and there are plenty of detailed pictures to help walk the user through the varying actions one might take. Each player takes one Pearl from the supply, storing it in one of the plastic cups. The remaining Pearls are placed in the leftover cups and set beside the board to form a "Treasury". Request support from the council - As ally cards build up in the council, it can be an attractive option to take a pile to boost your hand of allies. Strangely, there is no disadvantage to doing this, no price to pay, it would have possibly felt more in theme if you had to ‘bribe’ the council with a few pearls to gain their favour.

Conspiracy: Abyss Universe | Board Game | BoardGameGeek Conspiracy: Abyss Universe | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

Place your chosen Location in front of you. Any Lords used to control that Location must be slid underneath it so that their Powers are covered-these Powers are no longer available for the rest of the game. Draw 1,2,3, or 4 Locations and choose one from among those drawn. Then, place the rest face up beside the board, making them available for later turns. In this way, the more options you give yourself, the more choices you provide for your opponents! Each Race is made up of 13 cards as follows: one value 5 card, two value 4 cards, three value 3 cards, three value 2 cards, and four value 1 cards. Abyss is a hand management and set collection game for 2-4 players that takes about 45-60 minutes to play. Abyss plays best with 3-4 players. Game Overview: If you wish to keep more than 12 Allies in hand at the end of your turn, you must pay one Pearl for each extra Ally. Otherwise, you must discard each extra ally for which you decide not to pay a Pearl.Most of the Lords have a Power that is applied immediately when the Lord is recruited, and only once. These Powers are marked with an arrow. Politicians are widely disliked and have few scruples. They're very useful to sway the control of Lords. Abyss really takes place on 3 levels. First, the players must recruit ally cards, either via the games exploration mechanic or by requesting their support in the council. Once a player has enough allies, they can use them to recruit a powerful Lord. These Lords come with special abilities and sometimes keys to the city. Acquire enough keys and you can take control of a location, earning you extra influence points. The game ends when enough Lords have been recruited, at that point, the player with the most influence points wins. Game Components: The artwork in Abyss is absolutely fantastic! If you draw a monster card, you can fight it (ending your turn) or discard it and keep drawing. Any cards not chosen are placed in their appropriate pile in the council chamber spot on the game board.

Leviathan: Abyss exp | Board Games | Zatu Games UK Leviathan: Abyss exp | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

The game ends when there are not enough Lords to refill the Court or a player recruits their seventh lord. When you have finished your mandatory actions, your turn ends and the next player to your left goes. The game ends when either any player has either recruited their 7th Lord or the Lord court needs to be refilled but can’t. At this point, the active player finishes their turn, each other player gets one last turn, and everyone counts up their influence points. The player with the most wins. Any cards you pass over while exploring get added to their council pile, this could leave your opponents with a great opportunity. Note: A player who controls a Lord decides at which point during their turn the Lord's semi-permanent Power is applied. Refill The Court:Next, a player will add the collected Lords to their Senate Chamber. The Senate Chamber will be created as an inverted pyramid, with five cards at the top, four cards under that and so on. Lords must be placed from left to right, top to bottom. If you add a Lord that you do not have the colour of already present in your Senate Chamber, then you take a coat of arms token and place it on the newly laid Lord. If the colour of the Lord is already present the coat of arms token is moved to the Lord with the most influence points. The Coat of Arms token (one for each colour) must always be on the most influential Lord. Master Of The Locations In the four years since Warcry released, Games Workshop has teased us with about two new Chaos Dwarf models and (unsurprisingly) has yet to produce full rules for Dawi-Zharr warbands. I have finally... Randomly determine the first player of Abyss. You can do this in any way you like, some of the ways that are commonly used to decide who goes first is by a simple dice roll, however, some people like to go all out and do it based off of something more personal. A simple google search can give you some creative ideas.

Abyss | Board Games | Zatu Games UK *A Grade* Abyss | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

The game board depicts the council itself, in stunning detail, and has space for cards from the main three elements of the game - the depths, the council, and the court. On your turn, you may choose to recruit one of the Lords available at Court. To recruit a Lord, you must play enough Allies from your hand to pay the costs shown on that Lord card (see inset).The Location cards have some fun and interesting powers as well as additional end game scoring opportunities. They are nothing groundbreaking but they offer another means of scoring and a focus. Depending on race, the Lords each belong to one of the 6 different guilds, each with their own specialty: The total value of the Allies you play may be more than what is required, but no "change" is given: the extra Ally "points" are lost.