- Publisher : Origames
- Designers) : Charlie McCarron
- Artist(s) : Shirley Gong
- Players : 1–6
- Playing time : 45 - 60 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.24
What's this?
In this game, you play as apothecaries seeking fame . Your mission: to concoct and administer potions to resolve conflicts between nobles, nuns, bards, peasants, knights, and witches. By manipulating the emotions of the inhabitants, you seek to influence the kingdom and accomplish strategic objectives before your competitors.
How do you play?
A game of Four Humours takes place over several rounds , each consisting of three phases :
🧍 1. Visit the locals
Each player (or apothecary ) secretly places one of their potions on an inhabitant or animal present on the Scene cards .
Each potion corresponds to one of the four humors:
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Choleric (yellow bile) : authority, strength and domination.
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Sanguine (blood) : friendship, warmth and cooperation.
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Melancholic (black bile) : inspiration, solitude and altruism.
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Phlegmatic (phlegm) : patience, calm and wisdom.
Players can bluff , argue, promise, or lie about their intentions. This is a phase full of interaction and deduction.
🎭 2. Solve the Scenes
When two Scene cards are filled with potions, they are revealed.
Each mood type has its own victory rules :
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Only one anger potion wins the stage.
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Two or more sanguines triumph together.
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Two melancholics win, but only one exiles herself to another scene.
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The phlegmatic always wins the scene if no one else does.
Winning potions are then moved to the Kingdom or Fief board , and can contribute to the achievement of objectives (for example: connecting several scenes, having a potion on each type of inhabitant, etc.).
🧹 3. Maintenance phase
Players check to see if they have completed any objectives . Each completed objective allows for the resolution of a Gathering tile , which introduces new challenges and brings the game closer to its end.
A game ends when there are no more Gathering tiles, no more Scene cards available, or when a player can no longer draw potions.
Whoever has completed the most objectives wins!
Is it good?
Four Humours captivates with its original theme and its intelligent gameplay , where potions and therefore moods are resolved according to a precise hierarchy inspired by the medieval theory of the four humors. This mechanic is particularly well-found: it gives meaning to the theme, creates real tactical dilemmas and makes each card reveal both tense and satisfying.
The game combines light strategy, bluffing and negotiation , in an atmosphere full of interactions and psychological subtleties.
Each round encourages you to observe others , lie , negotiate or play a mind game to guess what others have asked. This social dimension is the heart of the game: everything is based on speech, intuitions and exchanges between players.
But all this verbal interaction requires engaged and expressive participants to really create a good atmosphere, otherwise the game can quickly fall a little flat. With bluffing and chatting being at the center of the system, more introverted players may feel a little left out. If no one is playing along with the “chatter” and bluffing, the experience becomes more mechanical and repetitive , losing much of its flavor.
In summary, Four Humours is an original and personality-filled game , ideal for those who enjoy psychological manipulation and dynamic table exchanges . But without this collective involvement, it can seem strategically light and lack renewal over time.
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Four Humours Review
Positives
- Original theme
- Very well thought out hierarchical mood mechanics
- Successful bluffing, deduction and interactions
- Superb illustrations
Negatives
- Highly dependent on the atmosphere and the involvement of the players
- Little pure strategic depth
- Can become repetitive over time
- Less suitable for quiet or introverted groups
