I can’t speak from personal experience but from my limited time with the many genres of games abstract’s are among the toughest to design. Your rules & mechanics have to be sharpened to a perfect edge, you’ll imbue it with every bit of modicum you can manage, try to make it as appealing as possible even though some will complain about how it’s ” just a board and come pieces”, and the sit back to endure the inevitable onslaught of fools wailing about how they don’t understand it.
Once in a blue moon, you’ll be granted something truly marvelous. In this case, that something is Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends, is famed designer Vlaada Chvátil’s latest offering and I believe it to be a monumental achievement of abstract gaming.