  The existence of a dark matter model with a rich dark sector could be the
reason why WIMP dark matter has evaded its detection so far. For instance,
colored co-annihilation naturally leads to the prediction of heavier dark
matter masses. Importantly, in such a scenario the Sommerfeld effect and bound
state formation must be considered in order to accurately predict the relic
abundance. Based on the example of the currently widely studied $t$-channel
simplified model with a colored mediator, we demonstrate the importance of
considering these non-perturbative effects for correctly inferring the viable
model parameters. We emphasize that a flat correction factor on the relic
abundance is not sufficient in this context. Moreover, we find that parameter
space thought to be excluded by direct detection experiments and LHC searches
remains still viable. Additionally, we illustrate that long-lived particle
searches and bound-state searches at the LHC can play a crucial role in probing
such a model. We demonstrate how future direct detection experiments will be
able to close almost all of the remaining windows for freeze-out production,
making it a highly testable scenario.
