Four Horsemen: The 9 Lives of Achilleus Against Hades
Find clever ways to prevent the apocalypse as one of many heroes and discover a personal nemesis with Four Horsemen.
Although I was away from home for roughly a week recently, I couldn’t stop thinking about Four Horsemen! Indeed, as soon as I returned, I continued on my quest to save the world in this threat management experience. Yet I was in for a challenge with my chosen matchup… Such an excellent game! Settle in for the almost endless tale of Achilleus vs. Hades!
Game Overview
Game Name: Four Horsemen
Publication Year: 2024
Designer: Jeremy Rowley
Artists: P. Amaya, P. Maza, F. Parente, & N. Stavarache
Publisher: Win-Win Board Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Multi-use relics provide the means to build up followers and fight off the destruction of the world. Random events and an apocalypse scenario set the stage for all sorts of troubles to manage as the end draws near. And yet, there is a rather hopeful undercurrent to the idea of saving the world!
First Play
May 13, 2025
Complexity
3
Latest Play
June 1, 2025
Expansions
3
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
14
Play Time
55 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
32" x 30"
Low Score
N/A
The Norse Expansion
Up until this point, I wanted to get familiar with the base game and the main rules. Yet it was certainly time to add in the first expansion, and I eagerly got to it!
The rules? So simple and modular! Each expansion comes with the easiest rulebook: 1 page of lore, 2 pages of rules, and 1 page as a helpful reference like keyword definitions.
Four Horsemen: The Norse Expansion includes ongoing relics that seem to have been made for the base game.
Adding these in was very easy, and I had a whole other pantheon of heroes and apocalypse scenarios to try out!
Hades, My Nemesis
I found the worst apocalypse scenario in the base game, and his name? Hades! Little did I know that I was about to experience the endless sting of defeat on my quest to win.
Just look at that smug pose! I had to adjust my strategy to deal with the spreading demons. Doubling them each round was a nightmare that always felt impossible to clear.
Let me just say that I lost over and over… And over some more! But rather than feeling frustrated, I was excited.
Little by little, I could see what I had to do to win against Hades with a single hero. A mighty battle ensued. Hades!!!
Demonic Defeats
The trouble with Hades was the way the demons never seemed to slow down. Many events added them to all zones, and clearing them out was integral to avoid failure.
A single demon seemed safe. But then there were 2… 4… 8… And then basically immediate defeat. So many demons!
With a hero from the Greek pantheon, I knew I was up against the wall. Demons were more common with their set of cards, but I wasn’t about to give up. I would get there!
Sadly, too many demons turned into rapidly advancing horsemen, and no matter what I did, Hades triumphed.
Poor Achilleus
I was convinced Achilleus went into every battle charging backwards, exposing his heels. Ha ha! It was rough going.
His divine powers were helpful, yet it was far too easy to gain corruption to match his divinity. The result? A fallen hero, which allowed the horsemen to advance quickly.
This felt much harder than when I played with the Judeo-Christian heroes, yet I liked how different everything felt.
Talk about variety! Switching pantheons gave me a new set of events and relics to experience, which made every card draw interesting… Even as Achilleus lost again and again.
Examining the Sheer Amount of Content
After this session, I decided to move onto a different game on my solo table, though I was rather loathe to pack this up. So good! However, this did give me a chance to organize all of the content, which I hadn’t really optimized when I opened all of the expansions. It took me a few hours to figure out how I wanted to store everything, but I discovered so much!
Seriously… Even with just the first expansion, I have a ton of content to explore. No heroes have felt similar, even within the same pantheon. And the expansions I still haven’t done anything with have so much to offer. Vortexes? Moon cards? Demonic gates? Wonders? Not to mention, entirely new pantheons with a plethora of new cards to discover!
I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy this game as much as I have. Losing time and time again against Hades only got mildly frustrating after I played about 4-5 times in a row during the same day. Yet I felt reinvigorated each time, ready to reset and battle again. There is an immense amount of content here to enjoy, and whenever I want to save the world, I have the game!
Slight Art Nitpicks
Since I love the gameplay so much, I took a step back to look at the elements I wasn’t a huge fan of. The title font is one of my least favorite, especially for the letters “J” and “W.”
The artwork also isn’t very clean in some spots. Look at the outline of Achilleus, and you’ll see a dark line with some artifacts. This isn’t my favorite kind of illustrated style.
Some card art looks overly zoomed in and pixellated, such as Cerberus. Just a little on the messy, unfinished side.
These issues weren’t enough to take me out of the game. The world was ending… Pixellation was a low priority. Ha!
Ritual of the Void
To add more variety, each play involves a random binding ritual. It’s easy enough to keep this the same or even pick the most thematic one, yet I like the random draw!
The Ritual of the Void required me to avoid acquiring certain relics, which was a pretty big restriction. How to remember?
Easy! I simply rotated any new relics so I didn’t even consider purchasing them. Face-down cards or cubes would tempt me too much… I know myself and accidental failures!
Enjoy a few awesome examples of these multi-purpose cards from later in the game. Lots of great choices.
Utter Defeat
Achilleus was probably one of the least-suited heroes to go up against Hades, and this was made more difficult by my choice to play truly solo, with only a single hero.
As a cooperative game with no hidden information, I can see the appeal in playing solo with 2-3 heroes!
However, I liked the little stories that popped up as my lone hero battled evil and saved the world. Well, all except for Achilleus here… Hades kept smirking and winning. Hades!!!
Maybe it seemed hopeless, yet I kept seeing how I might be able to pull ahead. 7th try? No. 8th try? Maybe the 9th try…
Nine Lives of Achilleus
Let me tell you about the joy of victory after an endless drought. Being invincible, it seemed like poor Achilleus was in a time loop where Hades delighted in his defeat.
No, Hades. No! I managed the demons better for the first time, although the final round looked like a disaster.
Little did I know that my choice to buy Poseidon’s Trident was about to pay off. In a most exciting finish, this Greek hero defeated a few demons and sent the rest flying away.
Defeat happens when any zone has 10+ demons. Every other zone ended with 9 demons. My goodness: Victory!!!
Session Overview
Play Number: 6-14
Expansion: Four Horsemen: The Norse Expansion
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Achilleus vs. Hades
Outcome: 1 Win & 8 Losses
Take that, Hades! It took me many plays to earn a victory, and it was done right on the edge of defeat in every way. Such an exciting way to end this battle against Hades! I may have cleared this off my table for now, yet I think it may return much sooner than expected. The puzzle is fun, the challenge always changes, and it’s been a surprise hit!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- Every play feels different with random events and relics, along with unique heroes and apocalypse scenarios.
- Figuring out the puzzle of how to handle all of the threats is very challenging, but immensely rewarding.
- Multi-purpose cards allow for plenty of options during each turn, yet acquiring relics also plays an important role.
- The sequence of play is simple to follow with helpful reference cards and a rather intuitive set of thematic rules.
- Despite the very gloomy and dark setting, the idea of saving the world actually brings a hopeful feeling to gameplay.
- Content is vast with so many different heroes and cards, yet even the base game on its own has plenty to enjoy.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Some of the art looks a bit unfinished or pixellated, although this isn’t enough to break the immersion of gameplay.
- The deluxe components are decent enough, yet can be underwhelming or less functional than standard cubes.
- Building and separating decks takes a bit of time when switching pantheons, and the card set symbols are rather tiny.
- Nearly everything feels quite balanced, except for the binding rituals, which can be noticeably easier or harder.
Victory Conditions
Meet the Requirements and Perform the Ritual
- Overall Goal Progress 33%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game as each Judeo-Christian hero.
Defeat all of the base game scenarios. (5/16)
Win at least 1 game as each Greek hero. (1/4)
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Four Horsemen? Have you ever been completely surprised by a solo game you didn’t expect to enjoy? My husband continues to be quite proud of the fact that he chose this one. Ha ha! I’ve had such a wonderful time with it and can’t wait to play some more. Seriously… You may find that it returns to my table way too soon, and I’m OK with that!
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