Color Field Review

Color Field is an abstract art movement from the 1940s. In the game Color Field you play as an artist putting together your own artistic works!

You can really see the texture on the cards in this picture.

Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: Sent for review by 25th Century Games

In two sentences, what do you do in the game: You are creating three art pieces (one per round) by selecting a paint tile on your turn to potentially add to your canvas. You gain points based on colors matching across tiles/the outer border, the longest stretch of one color, and for meeting Community Tool special requirements (if using Advanced Play rules).

An example of a players canvas and play area.

Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: Yes, we love a lot of 25th Century Games titles.

What was surprising about this title: The puzzle aspect of this game is a lot of fun and more challenging than you’d think. Luckily inspiration tokens allow you chances to swap or flip a tile and if you aren’t in first place at round end, you can keep a number of tiles depending on your placement. All of these help to balance out the challenge of finding the perfect tile placement.

Inspiration tiles. We didn’t find them particularly necessary during gameplay but the option is comforting.

How likely is this to return to the game table?: Very likely. We have played quite a few art themed games over the years and this one stood out to us.

Game length: Around 35 to 45 minutes for us, but that’s likely because the players took the tile choosing very seriously and spent time contemplating each choice, as artists must.

Language Barrier Playability: Good. Outside of translating the rules, the other part that needs translated are the Advanced Play Community Tool cards. This isn’t a lot of translating though as mostly you need to arrange colors.

A blank canvas prior to starting a game.

Artwork: Wonderful. Not only were the color tones chosen very nice we really liked the artistic pieces that were creates for this game. The pallete board for example looking like a paint pallete and being the location of the paint cards you choose from was both artsy and functional. The first player marker being a paint brush is a very nice-looking wooden token. The round cards are marked by cards that display a paint tube with paint coming out in the shape of a number that indicates Round 1, 2, or 3 which we enjoyed the design of.

Quality: Great. The cards and boards were sturdy and that’s all we ever ask for.

A double sided mat to keep your play area a bit more organized and keep the artsy theme.

Strategy: Great. There is an element of luck to which cards you’ll have to choose from but that’s balanced well with the amount of turns you get to change your cards out and the inspiration tokens to move things around further. Your strategy lies in both the initial placement and the limited amount of inspiration tokens to spend on swapping/turning tiles.

A mid game example of a player’s canvas.

Instruction Manual: Good. The rules are clear with a good amount of visuals so there’s no confusion on what things are and how they work.

Organization: Decent. There are baggies to keep your tiles organized and that works well!

The player’s canvas has a second side that adds to the theme. We always appreciate little details that add to the game.

Final thoughts: We enjoyed being artists in this tile placement game and especially enjoyed the added puzzle aspect. This game is one we’re going to continue bringing out for game night as it really brings its theme to life on the table for all to enjoy.