Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Light strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Draft lords into a reverse pyramid, claim key-powered locations, connect colors, and compete for the pearl majority beneath the sea.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Open Drafting
Select cards or items from a shared face-up display.
Pattern Building
Place elements to create arrangements that satisfy scoring or action patterns.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Tile Placement
Place tiles to build a shared or personal spatial arrangement.
Read the full game description
Conspiracy: Abyss Universe is a brisk card-drafting game set in the underwater kingdom of Abyss. Players build a senate as an inverted pyramid: five cards in the first row, then four, three, two, and one. On a turn, draw one to three lord cards, keep one, and sort the rest by color into shared discard piles—or take an entire color pile instead. Matching and different key symbols claim locations that attach to a lord and grant points or powers. Pearls shift a majority token worth five points, while the placement of every card matters because adjacent lords of the same color form connected groups. When a pyramid is complete, each player scores only the highest-value lord of each color, three points per card in their largest connected color group, locations, and the pearl majority. The result condenses meaningful drafting, spatial planning, tactical pile management, and Pascal Quidault’s striking Abyss art into an approachable thirty-minute game.
