Saving the World from One, Two, Three… Four Horsemen
Prevent the destruction of the world by managing cataclysmic events with followers and relics in Four Horsemen.
My goal was to move onto a new solo game that was a bit more cozy and thematic… But I had to take a detour! It was my husband who was interested in Four Horsemen, and we sat down to try it out for the first time recently. The inclusion of a bunch of solo cards seemed intriguing, and there was a neat sort of game system here. To the table to explore this one!
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
Divine heroes face off against a demonic foe to prevent the world from falling into destruction. Events must be managed, while relics and followers offer many choices. It all might seem like a simple puzzle at first, yet the tension builds as evil grows and the horsemen begin their marches!
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
Hero Choices
Characters are centered around various divine beings from different pantheons. They’re treated as legendary sorts of figures, although this means religious themes are present.
I’m not one to judge whether the concepts are shown in a respectful way, although I haven’t seen anything obviously offensive. This leans more into a modern sort of setting.
In short, this means heroes from various pantheons take on evil demons. The goal? Saving the world from the end.
To be honest, I hesitated to play, yet wanted to give it a chance as a familiar sort of game system with a new theme.
Fighting Against Evil
There is a lot of content here! Not only does the base game include lots of different heroes from a few pantheons, but the demons are very varied with multiple difficulty levels.
I took on Malaise, which is more of a tutorial mode. With my husband, we still barely managed to win. Challenging!
There is also a random ritual to complete at the end of the game. Preparing can happen at any time, but once the final hour is over, the finale occurs and a hero must survive.
Although typos abounded and the graphic design wasn’t as clean as it could be, I honestly enjoyed the gameplay loop.
Managing Relics
Most decisions happen with relics, which a hero collects. Gabriel had a starting deck of basic relics. However, these are used and sacrificed to be replaced during play.
The neat part is that relics must be acquired. Each round, it’s important to plan to pay for a card’s cost.
This tutorial limits newly acquired relics, yet the point is that this constantly changes up a deck.
More on the uses in a moment! Relics are the core method to gain followers, fight demons, and perform other actions. It’s all in the way each one is used every round. Clever!
The Best Rulebook Page
There is certainly a great deal of theme in the game, although it can easily turn into something that feels a bit mechanical with gaining and spending cubes.
But there is a fantastic rulebook page that gives a little more information about the followers. It opens with talking about astronaut miners… Definitely got me thinking!
I liked these short descriptions for the followers, as the cubes felt a little more alive as I thought about the stories.
Also, a side note that the rulebook is mostly excellent and short, but does have a few typos and ambiguities.
Unexpected Storytelling Fun
This was one of the rare games my husband decided to pick up on his own. We usually buy games together, and I think he just assumed I would have passed on this. He’s not wrong. Ha ha! At a glance, I didn’t feel like this was going to be the right fit for me. I was on the hunt for a cozy solo game on the shelf when he asked to play this together to try it out. So we did.
And that’s why I stole it to move to my solo table immediately. Ha! I still don’t think I’m in the target audience, nor is this something that has some sort of hidden cozy undertone. Maybe what appealed to me was the fact that it wasn’t all doom and gloom: There is a feeling of hope fighting against all the evil, and this storyline felt more meaningful.
I also had a bit of fun thinking up the different types of followers I gained and lost throughout gameplay. It was interesting! Being able to hold my attention with a game I initially wrote off is a hard feat, yet I was impressed with the system. Maybe it’s nothing extremely novel, but the card choices and building tension certainly provided a memorable kind of play!
Maintaining Followers
Essentially, followers are like resources, but in a much more thematic way. They might die, yet I like to think about assigning them to tasks that then take up all their time.
A hero also has a series of unique divine powers. Although they can be used anytime and as often as desired, there’s a catch: Corruption unlocks the better powers later on.
Corruption is mostly a negative factor, while divinity is positive. Yet there are some nuances there. Very cool!
Look way off in the distance, and you may see the horsemen on their tracks. Never let them reach the center. Game over!
Preventing Events
At the start of each hour, events advance and a new one is revealed. These range in how bad they might be, but being able to prevent or stop the effects is crucial to winning.
Gabriel was faced with a need for astronaut miners right at the start. Ha ha! With a lot of starting followers, it seemed wise to stop the asteroids before they hit the atmosphere.
Wealth went into a speedy defensive move, led by scientists and the most valuable follower of all: The project manager!
It was a costly start, yet preventing an event was needed to win over Malaise. And so Gabriel’s fight against evil began.
Boon, Use, Sacrifice
Each hour features a hand of 5 relic cards. Usually, 4 of these must be slotted into different action choices. That’s where the decisions come in: How do I use these relics well?
In this case, Gabriel gained the boons from Heal and Illuminate. New followers rallied behind his guidance.
Next, Prayer was used in order to gain wisdom followers. Not all of these cards offered major differences in their boon or use column, but these are often touch decisions.
Finally, another Heal card was sacrificed for a major bonus, yet it was then used up and removed from the game.
Into Malaise’s Pit
The first few rounds were more about gaining followers and relics, and Gabriel might have been too hasty about preventing the asteroids from falling. Not Malaise’s event!
Indeed, it was impossible to stop the Pit of Unhappiness from opening its maw. Demons arrived on multiple continents and the fight against evil took a turn!
Actually, it’s possible to replace a follower cost by taking on corruption, but this is never a good thing to gain quickly.
This looked like it would start to be a challenge for Gabriel to manage the troubles of the world against Malaise.
A Divine Power
Gabriel was prepared! Although the demons were spread out, the Encourage divine power allowed me to move them.
Whenever I gain and lose followers, I like to think it’s more a case of changing type than anything related to death. In this instance, a faithful follower focused on building up wealth.
I chose to do this in order to use a card that took out 3 demons in Gabriel’s location. Much less evil in the world!
Moving is also possible, but only when necessary. It’s important to manage demons, as too many will result in the end of the game or start to destroy followers.
Death of a Prophet
Time ticked down and Gabriel had things mostly under control, although using divine powers was very difficult.
That’s an interesting key point, as Malaise requires divine powers to be used. Yet this is a tutorial scenario, and the requirement exists to teach the importance of powers.
I was enjoying it all until another event came out that was pretty problematic! A prophet’s death couldn’t be prevented, and this ended up cascading through every event phase.
With 3 different phases, it can be worth it to weather the storm of an event at first, setting up to stop it later on.
Closing the Pit
Although losing a prophet set the world on a troublesome path, Gabriel had amassed a large enough following to figure out a way to close the Pit of Unhappiness.
Judging by the mix of different followers, I pictured it being closed up with a massive collection of gold and precious metals, all twisted together to toss away excess wealth.
Maybe Gabriel’s fight here had a very important lesson… Or I was just having a good time bringing the story to life!
Note, though, that active events often have consequences. I was limited by the types of cards I could place in some slots.
Fallen but Not Lost
Playing with a solo hero can be very difficult, and poor Gabriel reached a point when his divinity and corruption were equal. He had fallen, yet this wasn’t an instant loss.
However, gaining corruption or losing divinity meant that the horsemen began their marches. That’s right: A few of them started along their tracks and caused havoc!
Things started to cascade, especially as the finale occurred with the Ritual of Ruination. So much lost divinity!
And yet Gabriel survived, on the brink of disaster. It was an exciting kind of ending and an overall fantastic experience!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Gabriel vs. Malaise
Outcome: Win
Even though this was a tutorial and shortened version of the game, it was quite difficult! Several events piled up at the end, limiting my card decisions and even preventing me from some actions. I know this is on the darker side in terms of theme and even appearance, but I was pleasantly surprised by the system. Lots more to explore in the base game, plus a bunch of expansions with new gameplay!
%
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)
- Figuring out how to use relic cards each round is very interesting, especially with the way new ones are acquired.
- Tension slowly builds to allow followers to build up early on, and then suddenly it’s all about surviving to the end.
- A lot of variety exists with different scenarios, heroes, events, and relics to enjoy the base game for many plays.
- Play time runs pretty smoothly with a helpful summary card and a mostly straightforward sequence of play.
- Events create problems to prevent or stop, although there are strategic choices in weathering some of the worst.
- Although the theme may not seem appealing at first, the core system and mechanics are very enjoyable.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There are a lot of typos, including some major ones, and the text choices can make reading a bit difficult from afar.
- Upgraded components aren’t always useful, with the cubes not always fitting in the dual-layered player board slots.
- It can take some effort to not get stuck in the mechanics and make sure that a narrative flows through the hours.
- Most of the iconography is clear enough, but some graphic design choices make it hard to see the horsemen’s track.
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? Are there other solo games with very unique themes that stand out to you? I didn’t expect to enjoy this one, and figured it would quickly move along. Yet I’m interested in the other scenarios and feel excited about seeing how the numerous expansions add to gameplay. Quite a nice surprise, complete with astronaut miners. Ha!
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