For the review with pictures check out our blog at https://hesaidshesaidgames.wordpress.com/2017/01/11/game-rev...
What do youthful versions of gods do for fun? They compete against each other to see who’s the best at guiding civilians at constructing a city in the Aegean Sea, of course! The young gods had so much fun doing this, they decided to turn it into a competitive game. The name of this game is <PERSON>, and just as swiftly as the city was built up, it was smashed by Ares for a new set of gods to compete against each other. Can inspire your workers to build smarter and quicker than anyone else?
Designer: Dr. <PERSON>
Publisher: Roxley Games
Genre: Abstract, Grid Movement, Variable Player Powers
Players: 2-4
Play Time: 10-20 minutes
Number of Logged Plays: 15
Game Overview
In Santorini, players each become a Greek God as they aid the island’s citizens in building their city. Both help in building the city, but only the god who claims the highest spot in the city is declared the winner. Each god is given a team of two workers to represent them in the construction of the city. Workers will be given special abilities by their god to aid them in building the city quicker, such as the strength to construct multiple building in one turn, enhancing endurance to move across the city quicker, or even the ability to strike down opposing workers. Can you outwit your fellow gods as you guide one of your workers to be the first to reach the highest point in Santorini?
Game Play
In Santorini, players get a team of two workers that can be placed anywhere on the map at the beginning of the game. On a player’s turn, they can move one of their workers to any adjacent space and then must build a level of a tower on any adjacent space(including diagonally). There are some restrictions to a worker’s movement:
-Cannot move into a space that has another worker on it
-Cannot move up more than one level in a single movement
-Can move down any number of levels in a single movement
The restrictions for the build step are:
-Every building must go in sequential order (1->2->3->dome)
-Workers can construct a building level on any unoccupied adjacent space
-If a tower has a dome, it is considered a complete tower
Players will continue these steps until a worker is able to move up to the third level of a tower. The game will also end if a player is unable to move and build on their turn. The first player to move one of their workers to the top of a level three tower is the winner!
Gods Variant
It’s recommended to play a game or two without any God Powers to gain an understanding of how the game works. 470
God Powers will modify the game rules for each player, depending on which god they get. There are two levels of gods in the game – simple and advanced. The simple gods tweak the rules a little bit and are a good starting spot when playing the first couple of times. The advanced gods change the game quite a bit, and like the name suggests, are probably better suited for someone who has played the game a few times. In a two player game, all gods can be played, but there are certain match ups that are “banned” due to how their powers can counteract each other. These banned match ups are all indicated in the rule book and on the god cards as well.
Three & Four Player games
Santorini can be played with three or four players with the one exception being that only gods with the three or four player icon on them can be used in the game. The four player game plays a little differently with players pairing off in teams and each player having their own individual god. Players are only allowed to use their own god power and the team with the first worker to move onto a level three building wins.
Golden Fleece & Heroes
The Golden Fleece expansion, that comes with the Kickstarter version of the game, adds another variant, new gods, and “Hero” cards to the mix. In the golden fleece variant, the starting player will place the golden fleece statue on any space on the board. There will then only be one god card (with the golden fleece icon) placed off to the side of the board. During the game, if players have a worker next to the golden fleece statue, they have access to the god power. If they stray too far away from the statue with both of their workers, they’ll lose the assistance of that god power. 937