Published on Nov. 16, 2015 • Read 4 min.• 3975 viewsThe first Kraken tentacles appeared on November 6 in stores in France!For the occasion, in partnership with several associations, Bombyx invites you to discover the Abyss Kraken extension.You will find the list of events of the month at the end of the article!But first, the creators, Bruno Cathala, Charles Chevallier and Xavier Collette, give you their vision of the depths of Abyss Kraken.Official Abyss Kraken expansion trailer“A year already… A year since Abyss appeared on the shelves.And the least we can say is that the game has not gone unnoticed: not far from a dozen distinctions here and there, whether for its look or for its playful flavor.Nearly 40,000 copies sold, and lots of positive feedback live from players at festivals.A real joy !And since it's a game that we like, which we still play regularly, we wanted to offer new challenges.Abyss is a game in which each lord has a unique power.What makes it (sea) salt is precisely the combos achievable between the different lords.For an extension, it was natural to think of increasing the number of lords, in order to discover new powers, new combos.But the simple addition of new powers is in my opinion not sufficient to justify an extension.Something else was needed.Something that would make it possible both to speed up the game, and above all and above all to modify gaming habits. And that's how the KRAKENS were born!!Krakens are a new family of allies.A colorless family… since each kraken card takes on the color of its choice at the very moment you want to use it to recruit a lord.Very practical to obtain what one wants, and very quickly moreover.But of course, there is a trade-off.Such an advantage cannot go without its (sea urchin) thorn in its side.So, each time you use a kraken, you receive gray pearls, the famous NEBULIS.At the end of the game, each nebulis is worth a penalty point.And for the one who has the most, it's even worse since it hosts the kraken figurine, worth 5 additional penalty points.It will nevertheless be possible to get rid of his nebulis... or better still, to give them to the adversaries, for example by calling on the smugglers, a new guild of lords...To be complete, let's add that a new type of place is appearing: smugglers' hideouts.In these places, thanks to a new stop sign system, it will be possible to make a fortune... or to return empty-handed.Note that the family of allergic people can choose to leave these 4 new places aside to enjoy “only” the new lords, the krakens and their nebulis.“With Bruno, we quickly wanted to dive back into the abyss, because we missed this coherent world.The idea of ​​an extension germinated quite quickly.We didn't just want to add a certain number of lord and territory cards, we would have given it the easy way.Players who were waiting for an extension, who played many games of Abyss, didn't just want this.What we have created is a new way to play Abyss, with the same rules, but breaking the automatisms.The experience with nebulis, kraken allies and smuggler lords is totally different.And the counting is also modified.In addition, the new places, the carcasses, give an epic side that the game was perhaps missing.These different modules are independent, so nothing prevents you from playing with kraken allies and nebulis, but without playing with carcasses, or vice versa.This extension brings a very strong replayability, as much by its diversity as by its renewed experience... The enthusiasm aroused by the Kraken extension is at the height of the welcome enjoyed by the basic game: exceptional!!!»“As always, it's instinctive.I just ask for a few references, ideas, an influence at the start, which I try to digest and mix with mine.It is often, at the beginning, very abstract, imprecise forms, lines of force, which are gradually defined.For the new guild, the key word, if I remember correctly, was "shark".We immediately imagine carnivorous characters.We must not fall into a cliché anthropomorphism.So I went for something aggressive, a bit punk, hence the clothes with holes in them, studs and various metal bits.The places are more classic in design, I mainly use residual influences and images that come to mind.It can be a framing, a particular element or something else.»“As usual, all my illustrations are digital, for the sake of speed and convenience.Regarding Abyss, and it must be emphasized because it is a real pleasure, I had enormous artistic freedom, not far from carte blanche, so I immerse myself in a personal universe.Certainly not the one that would come out if I had to do an illustration in my free time, because it takes me out of my "comfort zone", the abyssal universe not being my domain at the start.And that's good.So I start quite quickly, a sketch, sometimes quite advanced, in grayscale, which I show to Erwan.He gives me a feedback on it, validates it, then I go to color (like in the video made for the cover of the artbook, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/ArtbookMakingOf ).Sometimes there are a few touch-ups to be done, but they are rare... »The details are on the agenda of the Bombyx site or on the sites of the structures.Good parts!http://meeplejuice.super-h.fr/index.php/actualites20/11 BOULOGNE BILLANCOURT – Charles Chevallier at the CNJ20/11 MONTROND LES BAINS – Games evening with Kraken23/11 VERSAILLES – Games evening with Krakenhttps://www.facebook.com/EspritLudique - La Pirogue at 8 p.m.25/11 PARIS – Abyss tournament evening with Charles Chevallier.Key prizes.https://www.facebook.com/lenidcoconludique - The Playful Cocoon Nest25/11 POITIERS – Evening with Kraken at 7 p.m. at Club MIPEULhttps://www.facebook.com/MIPEUL27/11 LES SABLES D'OLONNE – Abyss presentation eveninghttp://www.lestablesdolonne.fr/agenda28/11 TOULON – Game Palace and Abyss Tournament toyhttp://www.lesyeuxdanslesjeux.com/ - Takenoko Chibis tournament at 9 p.m. on 11/2728/11 STRASBOURG – Special Philibert evening with Bruno Cathalahttps://www.facebook.com/events/Philibert - Abyss Kraken, Fourberies, Penchots Barjots.11/12 LYON – Special Bombyx evening + presentation of Abyss Kraken - Atmosphere and Games premises.https://www.facebook.com/Ambiancesetjeux/Abyss Kraken evening at the Dé Masqué in DijonMore info on the expansion: http://www.trictrac.net/jeu-de-societe/abyss-krakenGet Tric Trac news straight to your inbox.Follow our review of the games we've tested recently.Tric Trac is 40,000 members, 18,000 referenced board games, 160,000 player reviews, 1,800 videos of explanations and games... 22 years of sharing around board games :).Take part in the community, follow the news of your games, discuss about the game, follow your favorite games, create your lists, ...Subscribe to our newsletter, and stay informed of new content and activity on the site.