Four Horsemen: One Surprising Solo Game Filled with Hope
Battle an apocalyptic scenario in a clever puzzle about managing resources and threats to save the world in Four Horsemen.
One of my surprise solo hits of this year is Four Horsemen, which remains relatively unknown. Yet it’s such an interesting puzzle! I played it multiplayer recently, and quickly whisked it over to my solo table. Plays are always difficult, but in a way that makes each victory feel like a true battle. A new enemy threatened on the horizon, and Atalanta sprang into action!
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
Horsemen threaten to advance towards destruction, led by a unique apocalyptic threat. A hero takes center stage, battling demons and finding ways to fight back. Relics discovered by followers offer multiple options to improve. It’s a challenging puzzle with a bleak but hopeful outlook!
First Play
May 13, 2025
Complexity
3
Latest Play
October 12, 2025
Expansions
3
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
16
Play Time
55 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
32" x 30"
Low Score
N/A
Mixing Up the Relics
Setup involves creating the relic deck by combining a base set with any pantheons of heroes in play. It makes sense, yet the icons are beyond tiny and it takes ages to sort at the end.
Although perhaps not ideal, I cut out this step by combining all of the relics… I just discard any of the wrong pantheons.
So much easier! This sped up setup and cleanup by a lot, and I was excited to start playing. I lined up everything nicely, including the helpful tokens I forgot about until recently.
Gameplay is very much about acquiring new relics, and it’s always awesome to see how varied the options are!
The Fifth Horseman
At the epicenter of ruin, I expected to find the standard Horsemen lined up… Ah, but today, there was a new one!
This fifth member is all about cuteness overloads, which is a surefire way to cause chaos. Ha! This costume made me laugh a lot, which was a welcome change from the theme.
It may look dark and awful, but I enjoy a lot of it due to the idea of saving the world. So many things go wrong, yet a single hero can cleverly use abilities to solve the puzzle.
Granted, winning is rather rare, but learning how to fight against an enemy helps set up future success… Eventually.
Atalanta the Huntress
After my last outing with Achilleus, I moved onto the next Greek hero. Atalanta was quite interesting with her divine powers. This unique set of abilities is a key part of success.
But in order to use the most powerful options, corruption must build up… Too much corruption leads to a fallen hero, thereby allowing the end to speed up considerably.
Another excellent part of gameplay are the resources, which are 4 different kinds of followers to help out in unique ways.
The best part is coming up with a storyline for the exciting moments. My scientists usually save the day, somehow!
Abbadon, the Worst
I moved onto a more difficult adversary with Abbadon. At a glance, this might seem pretty simple: A certain type of relic can’t be used each hour, and event prevention is limited.
Goodness, not easy at all! The random blocked relic type meant that I sometimes only used 3 instead of 4 cards, and held back a lot of my strategies. Abbadon! Just the worst.
And not being able to prevent a lot of events meant Atalanta had to endure most of them. A rather harsh reality.
However, I like playing a scenario at first when the nuances aren’t yet understood. I had to adjust my plans quite a bit.
When a Bleak Theme Surprisingly is the Opposite
Take a quick glance at this game, and it’s all about the end of the world. Event cards are terrible, and depict more realistic situations than even I expected. It’s dark, both in the physical table presence and the weight of the subject matter. Yet I’m someone who usually steers clear of these themes: I like cozy solo games, cute elements, and being happy while playing!
So why is this one resonating with me so much? It’s a conundrum, because despite its rather bleak outlook, I feel like I get to be the hero. It can be played cooperatively, yet playing solo with a single hero gives me a chance to fight back. And in the end, I do feel like my hero is saving the world. Terrible things happen and it all looks grim… But there’s always hope.
Maybe that sounds rather silly, yet I’m someone who can get uncomfortable around games that are too depressing. I appreciate their themes, but will move onto other choices. This one stands out for me because it seems to fall into that category, yet it does exactly the opposite for me. I lean into that hopeful idea that my lone hero can save everyone in time.
Gameplay helps with the puzzle working so well. I feel like I have to carefully work through it all, and with the theme, it goes beyond an abstract idea of trading in cubes and moving pieces around. I have a world to save… Move it! Ha ha!
Multi-Purpose Cards
My favorite part of this system are the relics, which can be used in different ways. Each one has a different ability, depending on which column it’s placed in during a turn.
Ah, but don’t get too excited about the sacrifice column! This removes a card from the game, meaning the best ability is a one-time effect to use at the right time.
With a typical hand size of 5 cards, there are awesome choices to make! But Abbadon was the worst with blocking.
I had to manage demons, Horsemen, resources, divinity, corruption, and all of the moving parts. Talk about a puzzle!
Defeated by Famine
With so many elements to balance, it wasn’t that surprising that things kind of went horribly wrong about halfway through this play. I was learning how to play as Atalanta.
Famine made it to the central spot to end everything, while Death hung out nearby with a bit of a smirk. Whoops!
It was a pretty terrible sort of loss, but it didn’t exactly take me by surprise. Abbadon’s blocked relic types slowed me down a lot, and I definitely didn’t utilize Atalanta’s powers.
Fortunately, I could see how I lost the balance and might be able to make better decisions with another play.
The Demonologist
It’s very tempting to try to clear out all of the demons, but this is usually a trap! During this loss, no region got to a point where it was particularly threatening in any way.
That meant I was way too focused on fighting demons, when it would have made more sense to build up resources.
The events were awful at times, adding corruption to Atalanta simply due to her limited number of followers.
Fortunately, a quick analysis at the end helped me think about a much better strategy… I basically needed to ease up on getting distracted by the demons everywhere. Ha!
Difficult Events
One of the biggest challenges was pairing up Atalanta with an enemy outside of her pantheon… I wondered if I did this incorrectly, since the Bottomless Pit created corruption.
However, knowing how some of these worked helped me plan ahead. I think winning against a scenario is virtually impossible during a first play, as there is a lot to learn.
Some randomness and luck play into victory, of course, but I felt like I got more comfortable with the strategies.
I’ll continue to say that winning is rare, yet the losses rarely feel like horrible, draining moments… Get up and try again!
Interesting Relics
A lot of fun happens during the relic hunting phase near the end of each round. Typically, a single card will replace the one sacrificed earlier in the round to maintain a deck size.
But weighing the costs is a tricky exercise, as picking up a new relic isn’t optional… It’s a requirement! Sometimes, the cost goes beyond the standard resources. Dangerous.
With as much trouble as I had removing corruption, the Thunder Axe was probably a terrible idea. But so cool!
It takes a lot to maintain a balance, yet with a lot of open information, the challenge is in managing all of the pieces.
Staring Down Death
Events took a lot out of Atalanta, and with time ticking down far too slowly, it was time for a new strategy. So I leaned into cuteness and had a Calico Critter stare down.
Ha ha! Actually, in a funny moment, my camera didn’t focus on the skull in the bottom left, so it looks like it’s fading away into the void. Calico Critter stares are powerful!
Alas, I lost again, even though I had a better grasp on some elements. Gameplay is quite difficult, and I knew what I did.
Not quite up to facing Abbadon again and again, I packed up the game. Atalanta shall return to save the world someday!
Session Overview
Play Number: 15 & 16
Expansion: Four Horsemen: The Norse Expansion
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Atalanta vs. Abbadon
Outcome: 2 Losses
The level of excitement when the next level of relics appeared was amazing… But alas, that’s just about the time I lost both plays. Ha ha! More powerful relics help out a lot, yet I forgot to build up a solid foundation at the start. This one is a very difficult kind of challenge that seems dark, but it’s a puzzle I enjoy working through with a bit of hope.
%
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)
- Managing the puzzle and balancing all of the elements is a wonderful experience that rewards multiple plays.
- There is so much variety, even when playing with the same hero and scenario, allowing each play to feel different.
- Most of the rules are straightforward, and the majority are covered on a simple summary card to follow the sequence.
- Multi-purpose cards create all kinds of neat decisions, often with some nuanced strategies specific to a scenario.
- Although there are some dice rolls to randomly choose locations, most of the information is open to help plan ahead.
- Despite the very dark theme, there is a real sense of accomplishment in the exciting moments and rare victories.
– Cons (Negatives)
- A lot of the graphic design is dark or muddy, and some artwork is pixelated to the point it’s difficult to see everything.
- There can be a lot of elements to keep track of at times with ongoing events and effects, along with standard abilities.
- Although many of the upgraded components are nice, functionality suffers a bit and adds some frustration.
- Cascading problems often lead to losing, although it’s still required to resolve each space on the chance one survives.
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 like the most about Four Horsemen? Is there a hero or scenario you find especially challenging? I think only the early tutorial scenario has a good chance of success… The rest is all about figuring out how everything works to maintain the balance. So difficult! And yet, this remains a surprising experience I thoroughly enjoy puzzling through.
Abaddon can be hard especially single player because of the luck component. Persephone does pretty well against him with her extra draw ability, especially if you get silver bullets or elf arrows early. I do the same thing with my game – I don’t bother sorting. I just discard relics and events that shouldn’t be in the game. Makes the setup time close to zero.
Have you tried Loki or avarice? A lot less luck than abandon and those both have very interesting puzzles. My favorite villains are still Krampus and Cthulhu followed by apep, set, and taowu.
Good to know I’m not alone with ignoring the sorting! How do you handle events? I suppose I would just need to have a clear counter nearby, which wouldn’t be terrible. Certainly works when it saves so much time!
I haven’t gotten to Loki or Avarice yet, although I’m looking forward to seeing all of the other puzzles! Seems like it will take awhile to move through all of the content, which I’m pretty happy about. So much more to see with the different expansions… Slowly making progress over here with the way I make it extra difficult sometimes. But I do like the idea that I’ll most likely lose, except that one time when I finally make everything work. It will happen one of these days!