I'm torn, half of me thinks it could have been a 20 dollar card game. (There ultimately is really no need for the board, pearls, pearl containers, etc) Just seems overproduced. Yet the production is what is really drawing my attention to the game, it looks beautiful, but at the end of the day it ultimately is just a simple trading card game, which is hard to justify the 50 dollar price tag for. So yeah, torn.
Michael Hyland LOL...it isn't even remotely like Guildhall. I have played Guildhall (with Job faire) about 200 times. Wife loves it. We have now played Abyss a number of times. The two games both use cardboard and come in a box...so they have that in common. Geesh!
It totally is LOL! They are both set collection games. In both games the sets gain power and you end up turning them in for points giving up their power. Even the powers in Abyss are pretty similar to what you can do with the sets in Guildhall. You jump through more hoops to do that in Abyss and there is the bidding thing. Same game essentially.
I've had this one for awhile and finally got it to the table last weekend-- a pleasant surprise. One interesting dynamic is as Tom eludes to here, if you recruit a lord that gives you a third key, you don't really get to use his ability because the third key triggers the location mechanism which then inactivates the keyed lords abilities. That can provide motivation to buy another keyed lord first, before buying a keyed lord with an awesome ability just so the better ability is not lost as a third key. Some abilities take effect only once and immediately, which I presume do still occur even when the acquisition results in a third key, so only the lords with "semi-permanent" abilities are ineffective if they're a third key.
The artist Xavier Collette is such a great asset to the hobby. This game had so much hype solely based on the way it looked. Really looking forward to his future games.
Thank you for your reviews. I know you said that you don't think watching somebody play board games is interesting... But I do. & I think many others do as well. I may be in the minority I don't know. But I think it would be really nice to see you explain the game as you would to a new player and then play a version of the game and then get the review of the game at the end. Of course this would only be for games that you ended up liking. Just my opinion and something to consider. Thanks again for all your work.
I played it last week. A friend brought it back from GenCon. The components, art & etc... are great. However, one play was enough. There just isn't much to it.
Larry Roachelle Hogwash...It is a fairly light game but it certainly has more depth than Ticket to Ride, Splendor, and many other card games...I have played Abyss now seven times...getting better and better...you do get it is a simple card game right? Right? This is not supposed to be Clash of Cultures (rolling eyes).
Hi Tom, Seems you disapointed about this game on the review you did after Gencon? It's like you have 2 different points of view? I don't know what to think about this game now! Why this sudden change?
No, it was really Tom saying that he was expecting SOOooo much because of the hype, but was disapointed of the actual game play. That for him it was *Ok.
I don't feel the hype about this one. Well, it's not much hype now that it's released and it's not as good as people expected. What I mean is that I wasn't even excited about this game before it came out. I usually don't go with the hypes anyway. I can't really see the point of this one...
One of the things I would like, Tom, if possible, is when you finish a review, even if you didn't play the game with different amounts of players, if you could give a quick estimation of how well the game would play with 2p, 3p, etc..., that'd be great. I know for me, I primarily play with my girlfriend, and so a lot of our gaming is 2 players only. I won't buy a 2-4p game if it doesn't scale down to 2 well. That's all, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. The game looks interesting, but my worry would be how it plays with 2.
Larry Roachelle Again, I totally disagree with Larry....it is amazing with 2...and the Vasels have said so as well. I think Mr. Roach played it once tops.
jaxommm I've played it 3 times. (Which I know isn't a lot, but enough to form an opinion). I played it with 2, 3 & 4. It was best with 4 and worst with 2. There wasn't enough interaction IMO with 2. I could get whatever I wanted & vice versa. BTW- I'm glad you like it. I don't "hate" it, but I think it's just "meh". It has been so overhyped at my FLGS that for me it hasn't lived up to the expectations.
Thanks for the review! God I just can't put my finger on why but I *really* want to play this game.... Maybe it's just the Oceanic theme? Yet I don't generally even *like* trick taking negotiation games. Andres review made me curious and now I just wanna' play it!
wow Melody looks five yrs older than when I saw her on here last! Wow children age quickly! Great to see you mentally maturing too Melody. Keep up the reviews!
This looks like a game that would make me hate other players' turns. It would appear that opportunities can arise from the poor play/strategy of the person in the prior turn. This would drive me nuts if an opponent was constantly able to exploit such play.
I played it last week. A friend brought it back from GenCon. There just isn't much to it. The "exploration" auction does allow for sloppy strategy. A bad player can basically give cards to people.
This wasn't the case at all Jeff. If you have a chance to play it you will see the many options that arise. It works very well and I found it quite balanced. I was the poorer player in my last game and I still found a strategy to pull off the win.
But are the enemies...sea enemenies? *ducks and covers*
Wow. Comparing to Dan' review it's like night and day. You are even keepint it! Probably because you were able to beat Melody in this :D
Love the show Tom, I don't even buy games anymore without checking for one of your reviews!
I'm torn, half of me thinks it could have been a 20 dollar card game. (There ultimately is really no need for the board, pearls, pearl containers, etc) Just seems overproduced. Yet the production is what is really drawing my attention to the game, it looks beautiful, but at the end of the day it ultimately is just a simple trading card game, which is hard to justify the 50 dollar price tag for. So yeah, torn.
seems to be going for 60 euros here..
Agreed. That's how I felt when I saw the con vids and some sample playthroughs.
Guildhall is a $20 game, and it is basically the same game minus a few bells and whistles.
Michael Hyland LOL...it isn't even remotely like Guildhall. I have played Guildhall (with Job faire) about 200 times. Wife loves it. We have now played Abyss a number of times. The two games both use cardboard and come in a box...so they have that in common. Geesh!
It totally is LOL! They are both set collection games. In both games the sets gain power and you end up turning them in for points giving up their power. Even the powers in Abyss are pretty similar to what you can do with the sets in Guildhall. You jump through more hoops to do that in Abyss and there is the bidding thing. Same game essentially.
I've had this one for awhile and finally got it to the table last weekend-- a pleasant surprise. One interesting dynamic is as Tom eludes to here, if you recruit a lord that gives you a third key, you don't really get to use his ability because the third key triggers the location mechanism which then inactivates the keyed lords abilities. That can provide motivation to buy another keyed lord first, before buying a keyed lord with an awesome ability just so the better ability is not lost as a third key. Some abilities take effect only once and immediately, which I presume do still occur even when the acquisition results in a third key, so only the lords with "semi-permanent" abilities are ineffective if they're a third key.
I tend to like Bruno Cathala's games for the most part, but this one doesn't appeal to me at all.
Still a good game in 2023?
Bruno!
The artist Xavier Collette is such a great asset to the hobby. This game had so much hype solely based on the way it looked. Really looking forward to his future games.
Thank you for your reviews.
I know you said that you don't think watching somebody play board games is interesting... But I do. & I think many others do as well.
I may be in the minority I don't know.
But I think it would be really nice to see you explain the game as you would to a new player and then play a version of the game and then get the review of the game at the end.
Of course this would only be for games that you ended up liking.
Just my opinion and something to consider.
Thanks again for all your work.
Thanks for the review, I will have to consider this one now, since Melody likes it.
thumbs up for the look on melody's face when tom said girls can't win the game ;)
Looks like a fun game. Thanks Tom and Melody.
That "shut the door" just blew my mind!
So is it a no secret Citadels mixed with a simplified dungeon crawl... ish? It looks awesome!
Looks like someone had a change of heart :)
if the last card comes out when exploring the depths and your opponent buys it will the active player get the card before that or is he out of luck?
I feel like I would buy this to look at it then play it once and be done with it.
I played it last week. A friend brought it back from GenCon. The components, art & etc... are great. However, one play was enough. There just isn't much to it.
Larry Roachelle Hogwash...It is a fairly light game but it certainly has more depth than Ticket to Ride, Splendor, and many other card games...I have played Abyss now seven times...getting better and better...you do get it is a simple card game right? Right? This is not supposed to be Clash of Cultures (rolling eyes).
Had a chance to play this at Gen Con and loved it! Thanks Tom and Melody.
Hi Tom, Seems you disapointed about this game on the review you did after Gencon? It's like you have 2 different points of view? I don't know what to think about this game now! Why this sudden change?
Maybe you are confusing it with Dan King's review of this game on this channel, which was published right after the Gencon.
No, it was really Tom saying that he was expecting SOOooo much because of the hype, but was disapointed of the actual game play. That for him it was *Ok.
I don't feel the hype about this one. Well, it's not much hype now that it's released and it's not as good as people expected. What I mean is that I wasn't even excited about this game before it came out. I usually don't go with the hypes anyway. I can't really see the point of this one...
I love this game!
One of the things I would like, Tom, if possible, is when you finish a review, even if you didn't play the game with different amounts of players, if you could give a quick estimation of how well the game would play with 2p, 3p, etc..., that'd be great. I know for me, I primarily play with my girlfriend, and so a lot of our gaming is 2 players only. I won't buy a 2-4p game if it doesn't scale down to 2 well. That's all, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. The game looks interesting, but my worry would be how it plays with 2.
This game is awful for 2 people. I wouldn't play it with less than 4.
Larry Roachelle Again, I totally disagree with Larry....it is amazing with 2...and the Vasels have said so as well. I think Mr. Roach played it once tops.
jaxommm I've played it 3 times. (Which I know isn't a lot, but enough to form an opinion). I played it with 2, 3 & 4. It was best with 4 and worst with 2. There wasn't enough interaction IMO with 2. I could get whatever I wanted & vice versa. BTW- I'm glad you like it. I don't "hate" it, but I think it's just "meh". It has been so overhyped at my FLGS that for me it hasn't lived up to the expectations.
Would this game have a seal if they had those back in the day?
It would have gotten a sea lion
Mehhhhh
Thanks for the review! God I just can't put my finger on why but I *really* want to play this game.... Maybe it's just the Oceanic theme? Yet I don't generally even *like* trick taking negotiation games. Andres review made me curious and now I just wanna' play it!
wow Melody looks five yrs older than when I saw her on here last! Wow children age quickly! Great to see you mentally maturing too Melody. Keep up the reviews!
Am I wrong that you can't overpay for a lord? I thought you had to be exact? Maybe not.
Late response but you can totally overpay for a lord. You don't get change back, but you most likely can affiliate a stronger ally this way.
This looks like a game that would make me hate other players' turns. It would appear that opportunities can arise from the poor play/strategy of the person in the prior turn. This would drive me nuts if an opponent was constantly able to exploit such play.
I played it last week. A friend brought it back from GenCon. There just isn't much to it. The "exploration" auction does allow for sloppy strategy. A bad player can basically give cards to people.
This wasn't the case at all Jeff. If you have a chance to play it you will see the many options that arise. It works very well and I found it quite balanced. I was the poorer player in my last game and I still found a strategy to pull off the win.