Andean Abyss

A long, asymmetric wargame about Colombia's conflict: four factions, one card deck and 160 wooden pieces.

Designer: Volko Ruhnke
Published by: GMT Games

Andean Abyss puts one to four players inside Colombia's long internal conflict, with each side wanting something different: the Government, the guerrillas, the paramilitaries and the drug cartels. A deck of event cards drives the campaign and decides who can act. You spend your turn on operations or an event, move around 160 wooden pieces across a colorful map and fight over control of the countryside, with dice settling attacks. Each faction plays by its own rules and goals, so it feels like four separate games at once. This is a long, serious wargame with a heavy rulebook, a solo mode, and an evening that can stretch to six hours.

Four factions with different goalsEvent cards drive the whole campaignSolo play and about six hours of length

Who it's for

You enjoy heavy, asymmetric wargames and want a long campaign with one to four players that makes you think about a real conflict.

Not for you if…

You want a light evening or a game with a short rulebook. This needs several hours, patience and a table that wants to read the manual.

Vibe's take

Dense, serious and absorbing. Each faction plays almost like a different game, and the event deck decides who acts when, so you plan around what the cards will let you do next.