The 4 Squares Holi: Festival of Colors Review

Tom, Zee, Roy, & Mike takes a look at a abstract game about throwing color!

Intro 0:00
Overview 1:47
Final Thoughts 9:13
Scores 18:55

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[kchorst]

❤ the memories that music brings. Maybe you have enough ppl to do an A-Team parody instead of a Miami Vice one? 😂

[samanrahemi]

@3:52 the card says your not allowed to place a color token on a player marker when playing a color card face down! I'm not sure where he got the "place your token in opponents token pool" from!?

[felixfryxell]

You say it's a crowded genre, but what genres are not?
Do you need to say it every time you pick up a euro game, an auction game, a skirmish game, a wargame, etc?

[jasonkimmings]

Playing a card face down allows you to place a single token on your level but NOT on a player piece.

[searose]

Pretty disappointed that it is so abstracted and removed from the theme. Could have been more thematic. Still might be fun, I’m going to go watch your playthrough👍🏼

[antilog]

I find the review interesting. I think a lot of the mechanical aspects they mention are pretty accurate, but as an Indian that has regularly played Holi (the actual festival), I'm not sure that the game is that abstract. I'm curious what made it feel abstract? The festival is about throwing color around, which colors the environment and people (represented by the tokens staying on the grids or going into other player's piles) and eating lots of sweets (as a note of cultural discussion, it isn't candy. Consider it more equivalent to cookies / brownies than candy). I'm curious (and maybe other people familiar with the holiday have good ideas) what would have made it less abstract?

Edited: Reading my comment, it could be construed in a negative tone. I want to clarify I am genuinely curious and was looking more for ideas. As a regular participant in Holi, I probably have a very strong bias that is blocking my understanding of why the game is more abstract than say Viticulture (which I enjoy a lot). I'm sure it's just a failure of imagination on my part (as I am not even remotely close to being a designer by any stretch), but just curious what might have made it feel less abstract. Or is it simply that it is a tactical game and Holi (in real life) is generally more about having as much as you can throwing color everywhere than any strategy? Holi can involve "mock battles" (e.g. my wife and her neighbors would do these roof top battles growing up), but I would characterize it more about having fun than winning any type of battle.

[forrestdunton]

I’m happy at least Tom really liked this. I kickstarted it the moment I saw it, it looks so beautiful and interesting. Hope I’m not disappointed but keeping my expectations in check.

We have these festivals every year in California and they’re amazing to attend. Definitely worth seeing if the opportunity arises.

[adamholt]

Zee thank you for the comment about Sagrada. I love the theme and the aesthetics of Sagrada, but I HATE the scoring for it. Why should I get less points for filling out my entire grid making sure that none of the colors and numbers are touching when you have gaps in your window but you made sure to get the rows of numbers that lined up better? That's what bother me the most about games sometimes. The game can be really fun and challenging, but the scoring is what makes it lame.

[garyfaust]

Nice theme, but does not align with the game. The rules and modification cards are so arbitrary. Thanks for the detailed description, but it is a hard pass for me.

[ralelunar]

I feel like this is the "Color Run" version of what a Holi game should be. Sure, Color Runs are fun events because you get to throw colored powder around, but they reduced out all of the cultural meaning of their inspiration.

[ajynotna]

You are all welcome to celebrate Holi with us maybe next year in March. PS: You cant eat the colors. Although the candy you mentioned is a Ladoo and you would not call it a Candy if you had it. More of a Dessert. :)

[nezukoshop]

So, I guess Tom dictate what game get Seal of Approval, and what is not. I mean, 3 of them 6, only Tom 7, 5 and the game got SoA? 6+6+6+7.5 / 4 would be 6.35. I thought SoA is for game that 7 plus rating.