
2019 · Fantasy
Conspiracy: Abyss Universe
Players draft colored number cards to build a reverse pyramid tableau across five descending rows, then claim location tiles and collect pearls from the shared board. On a turn a player draws 1–3 cards, adds one to their current row, and either groups remaining cards by color near the deck or picks up a color pool to place in their tableau. Matching key icons on visible cards let a player take a revealed location or draw the top location tile and attach it to the corresponding card; locations boost card values and sometimes grant powers. At game end players score highest card values per color, bonuses for largest same-color groupings, and a bonus for holding the pearl-majority token; highest total wins.
- Players
- 2–4 best 2
- Playing time
- 30 min
- Age
- 8+
- Complexity
- 1.8 / 5
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 323
- Plays logged
- 203
- Players
- 19m 28s
- Average play
- 38
- In collections
- 10
- On wishlists
6.5/10
from 20 Ludoya reviews
Vic Granell7.5 Hesitating to buy the original Abyss for years due to mixed reviews, I decided to go for this smaller version. Great short game!!!!
Примитивный пасьянс. Игроки соревнуются в том, кто разложит свой пасьянс первым. При этом карты общие из одной колоды. Не повезло с картой и не выйграешь, а если тянешь нужные, то побеждаешь легко... всё скатывается до везения.
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Can I recruit from a discard pile or only from the deck? Do I take all the cards?
You can either draw 1–3 Lords from the deck and choose one (the others are discarded by color), or take ALL the Lords from one single-color discard pile; if a discard pile has more cards than free spaces when you recruit from it, you choose enough to fill your Chamber and return the rest faceup to the pile. (Rulebook, pp.4–5, 12)
How exactly do I place new Lords into my Senate Chamber?
Place recruited Lords left-to-right and top-to-bottom, creating the inverted-pyramid layout shown, and if you recruit multiple Lords you choose the order in which they are placed; then apply any powers of the new Lords. (Rulebook, p.6)
When and how do Coat of Arms tokens move, and which Lords count for scoring?
Place a Coat of Arms token on the first Lord of a color you add; if you later add a same-color Lord with higher Influence Points, move the token to that card — only the Lords holding Coat of Arms (the most influential of each color) are counted for the Lords scoring category. (Rulebook, p.7; scoring: p.12)
How do keys work to take a Location, and what happens to my keys afterward?
Lords with 1 IP grant a silver key and 2 IP grant a gold key; two identical keys immediately grant control of a Location (or any third key of any type grants control if your first two were different), and when you place a Location on the Lord it masks the last key revealed and resets your key count to zero. (Rulebook, pp.7–9)
What is the Pearl Master and how can other players steal it?
Lords with 3 and 4 IP give pearls; the first player to gain pearls takes the Pearl Master token and tracks their pearls on the Pearl track, and an opponent who reaches the same number of pearls steals the token (if they have more, they steal it and move the marker to their pearl count); the Pearl Master is worth +5 IP at game end. (Rulebook, pp.9, 12)
How do Coalitions (adjacent same-color Lords) score, and what are the tiebreakers?
Adjacent Lords of the same color form Coalitions and at game end you score 3 points for each Lord in your largest Coalition; ties on total Influence Points are broken by the player with more pearls, and if still tied the victory is shared. (Rulebook, p.11; end-of-game/tiebreakers: p.12)
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Conspiracy: Abyss Universe with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.
























