Much like the Lords, each Location varies in how it will contribute to the overall Influence Points total at the end of the game. The rule book looks daunting at first as its pages are the size of the box, but it is very well laid out and easy to read, with simple gameplay examples, and lots of great artwork.

Andean Abyss Second Printing | Board Games | Zatu Games UK Andean Abyss Second Printing | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

This is a part I really enjoy about Abyss and one that I think sets it apart from other set collection games. This was an interesting decision because on one hand, it stops a player from abusing a Lords power (and there are definitely some powerful ones, especially the red offensive ones), but on the other hand, it almost acts as a catch-up mechanic since when you gain control of a Location, you are gaining a decent amount of influence points. As soon as you gather three Keys (Keys are gained when you recruit a Lord with a Key symbol or by fighting a Monster while Exploration) you must immediately take control of a Location. If you choose to skip the fight and move the Monster Tracker, you’re setting up an opponent with a chance to score more resources, but it is possible that you might end up flipping another Monster. Plot at the court – If there is space at the court (fewer than six lords there), players may, if they choose, pay pearls to lure new lords to the court, giving them more choice of lords to recruit.While I think this game works well with all player counts, I feel like it really needs 3-4 players to shine.

Abyss - Bombyx Abyss - Bombyx

The card deck in the game consists of cards in five colours, with twelve of each colour and cards numbered 0-6. To recruit a Lord, you must play enough Allies from your hand to pay the costs shown on that Lord card (see inset). On the 5th space, they win 1 Key token + 2 Pearls OR 2 Key token + 1 Pearl + 1 Monster token OR 1 Key token + 2 Monster tokens. You need to get as many IP (influence points) as possible, you get these from the lords that you sway, the locations that you control, the strongest allies from each race that you affiliated to the lords when you recruited them, any monster tokens you won, and the weakest ally from each race in your hand at the end of the game.

The additions to the game that this offers are relatively small and subtle, which you would expect from a small box expansion, but I do enjoy playing with it still as a shakeup to the base game. The draft becomes more interesting and important as you require certain allies to be able to fight the Leviathans. g I prefer recruiting farmer lords who have no powers but high influence, and trying to combine them with locations to multiply up those points). This is also a smart move as it can get you a bunch of cards quickly, but they usually will be the lower value cards. If another player gains equal or more pearls than the player with the Pearl Master token then they take the token.