Abalone is a two-player strategy hexagonal board game containing 14 black and 14 white marbles. This game might look very simple but in fact, it is a very challenging and fun game. It is suitable for aged seven and above. Abalone was invented in 1987 and has sold more than 10 million copies. It also comes with an app that is available to download on App Store and Google Play.
It comes with a plain black plastic board that sits sturdily on a flat table, which has room for two teams of large marbles. These big and heavy marbles look absolutely gorgeous. The surfaces are shiny and smooth which makes it easy to push along the grooves on the board.
The aim of this game is to push six opposing marbles into the rails along the edge of the board to win the game. The central idea is that a column of marbles has weight given by the number of marbles in line. Someone will need to push with a heavier group of marbles in order to push the column along that axis. However, with six possible directions, it’s difficult to defend yourself perfectly. If you prefer to watch video instructions, there are plenty of videos that can be found on the YouTube channel. I did let Mr K watch the video to get a better idea of the game.
I find this game easy to play and it didn’t take too long to finish each game. But if you find the game is too long, you can set your game to a time limit. This is our first time coming across this game, even though Abalone came out 30 years ago! We didn’t know about this classic game but we all enjoy playing it and would recommend to anyone. It is available to buy from good toy retailers and Amazon.
You can also read our past Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club’s review here: Cobra Paw, Colt Express, Dobble, Splendor & Pandemic!
Disclosure: We received the sample for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own. We are members of Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club.