Test Your Knowledge of Color Trivia in Color Brain

Do you know the colors of the A-Team van or America’s oldest military medal?

In Color Brain, published by Big Potato Games, players must answer questions focusing on colors, selecting the correct color cards and earning points based on the number of players who get the question wrong.

Gameplay

Each player or team takes eleven color cards. Each card shows a different color. The question cards are then put into the card dispenser. The card dispenser shows a prompt and then the number of colors needed to answer the prompt.

Every round, players look at the prompt, check how many color cards are required to answer it, and then select the ones they believe are correct. For instance, the prompt might be ‘the predominant color of Thomas the Tank engine’ which requires one color, or ‘pieces in the board game Othello’ which requires two color cards.

The first player to select the color cards she believes to be the correct, places them face-down on the table and shouts ‘color brain!’. The other players then have fifteen seconds to put down their own answers. All cards are then flipped over and the question card removed from the dispenser so that you can now see what colors are the correct answers. If more than one color was called for, you must have all of them in order get the question correct.

If you got the question right, you earn one point for each player (or team) that got it incorrect. If everyone got it right, no one gets a point, however an extra point rolls over to be won on the next question.

Each player also starts the game with a color catcher card. If you are not in the lead you may discard it to use against a player who is in the lead before the next question card has been read out. This allows you to randomly take some color cards away from that player for the duration of the next question.

The first player or team to reach ten points wins the game.

Review

Color Brain plays much like a unique twist on trivia games, with answers focusing solely on colors. Many of the questions will be about famous items, props, or characters. The challenge comes in when you can’t quite remember or when you can only narrow it down and take your best guess.

There’s also an element of speed in the game, as you want to be the first to turn in your answer, or you find yourself up against a stressful fifteen-second timer. The game doesn’t include a timer, which would have been useful, but it’s easy enough to use a phone or other device to time for you.

We liked the components, with each color card showing a range of different shades for those colors (the photo above is from a different edition than the one we were sent), and the card dispenser is cleverly designed. With 398 questions included, it’s going to take a while before you work your way through all of them.

The color catcher card mechanism is implemented to keep any one player from pulling too far into the lead, but we didn’t really care for the way it plays out. Since a random selection of colors are removed from your hand, you might essentially be left to sit the round out without a color you know you need, which isn’t particularly fun, or you might just get lucky and have exactly you what you do need, in which case the card was a little wasted. We preferred to play without this.

Also, while the game says it can be played in teams, the mechanics lend themselves better to individual gameplay. Players can’t really discuss color choices without their opponent’s overhearing, and while you could in theory point at cards by way of communication, talking about your ideas is part of the fun of team gameplay.

Despite those two caveats, we enjoyed the unique take on the trivia game genre. It feels different and leads you to think about familiar objects and characters in a new light. The mechanics are light and easy to learn, and it’s a good fit for family gatherings.

Pros: Fun color-based questions, clever card dispenser component

Cons: Not ideal for team play, color catcher card isn't very fun

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.