Overview

In Santorini, each player controls two builders on a 5x5 grid, racing to be the first player to reach the top of a level-three building with one of their builders. Each turn, you must move one of your builders to a neighboring space, and then you must have that builder construct a building on a neighboring square. When moving, you can move up one level or drop down any number of levels. Constructing always adds the next building piece to that space. However, once a building is at the third level, adding a piece actually adds a blue dome that effectively removes the space from play. Play alternates until either a builder is able to step up onto a level-three building, winning the game, or a player cannot make a legal move, losing the game.

Game Feel

As a two-player game that has no luck once the game begins, Santorini feels similar to a lot of abstract strategy games, such as Chess or Checkers, where it is all about outmaneuvering your opponent and trying to anticipate their moves, but with the added element of thinking in 3D space. As the game progresses, it can get rather cerebral as players are thinking multiple moves ahead. Since players can build domes on level-three buildings to block their opponent from winning, you need to figure out a way to not only be able to step up to a level-three building, but have it be a building that your opponent has no way to build on between your turns.

But the big twist that separates the game from classics in the genre is the inclusion of a whole deck of “god” abilities, each of which gives the controlling player a special ability or alternate win condition that completely changes the way you approach the game. This could be a powerful but straightforward ability, like Artemis who can move twice before building, or something that really shakes up the feel of the game like Atlas who can build a dome on a space at any level. And with a god like Pan who instantly wins the game if your worker ever drops two or more levels, you almost feel like you are playing a completely different game.

FAQ

Player Counts - Santorini is primarily a 2-player game, but there is also a team vs. team 4-player variant that we haven’t played personally, but have heard works fine.

Abstract vs. Thematic - The game is almost entirely abstract, but the addition of god cards with unique abilities injects a little more flavor as many of the abilities relate to the characteristics of the gods in Greek mythology.

Luck vs. Skill - Santorini has no luck once the game begins, though if you are just playing a one-off game, there may be some luck in the balance of the gods you select. That said, that too can be mitigated by playing back-to-back games and switching powers, ensuring each player experiences the same advantage.

Multiplayer Solitaire vs. Highly Interactive - The game couldn’t really be more interactive as you directly maneuver around your opponent and all structures that are built can be utilized by either player.

Short Setup vs. Long Setup - Setup is trivial as you just each select a god power and then alternate placing your two builders on the board.

Easy to Teach vs. Hard to Teach - The initial teach is also really simple as the ruleset is elegant and almost all of the complexity is emergent and can be discovered while playing.

Low Setup Variability vs. High Setup Variability - On one hand, Santorini is an abstract strategy game that has no variable setup, and on the other hand, it has this layer of god powers that can really make each game feel different. Together, this puts the game somewhere in the middle on our scale of setup variability.

Things to Like

✅ God Powers Keep the Experience Fresh - And it is that variability in the god powers that tops our list of things to like about Santorini. The endless combinations of abilities allow you to keep experiencing the game system in new ways, leading to the kinds of surprising tactical decisions that are the hallmark of good abstract strategy games. Perhaps those who care most about an even playing field will shy away from these variable matchups, but it injects a huge fun factor for those that are more interested in playing casually.

✅ Core System is Solid and Strategic - Having a huge variety of player powers only works if the underlying game system stands on its own, and Santorini definitely has strong bones and is an interesting tactical puzzle even without the addition of the god powers. The game has a unique feel with all of the structures being shared, as well as it being so easy to cap a building to block a winning move. This has players building carefully to avoid helping their opponents, and really thinking about how they can surprise their opponent with a winning move that is impossible for them to block.

✅ Abstract Strategy in 3D Space is Interesting - Whereas most abstract strategy games are played in two dimensions, Santorini adds in some fresh considerations with how the builders move around in 3D space. You can only ever step up a single level, so often times a move can be blocked by simply building another level that makes it too high for the builder to climb. But you can always jump down any number of levels which allows a builder to quickly get into position to make a blocking move. However, any time a builder moves down, they are sacrificing high ground that, ultimately, is key to winning the game.

✅ Fun Balance of Offense and Defense - These sudden blocking moves have the potential to flip the tables, and it is fun to balance posing a threat with your attack while still thwarting your opponent’s efforts. There are times when you will feel like you are entirely on the defense, but you are looking for creative ways to improve your position while blocking your opponent’s path to victory. Since, barring any exotic god powers, structures are never destroyed, the board fills up more and more as the game progresses, and it can lead to some interesting situations where it is even possible to win by forcing your opponent to be unable to move or build on their turn.

Things to Dislike

❌ Imbalance in God Power Matchups - Santorini’s biggest strength also carries its biggest weakness, which is that it can be wildly swingy in how fair any given matchup is, given the selected god powers. There are combinations that are extremely imbalanced, and it can be a little disappointing to have a session that ends in a blowout that the players didn’t see coming. One solution is to swap sides after the first game, but that also has the potential to make a player feel bad if they think the matchup is imbalanced, only to have the other player beat them with the “weaker” god power. Some might find the challenge of trying to win with a weaker god fun, and it can even be used to even the playing field with players of different skill levels, but for players that are looking to just pick two gods and play are kind of rolling the dice with the fairness of their matchup.

Our Ratings

Ryan (17 Plays) - 7.5 Daniel (59 Plays) - 8

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Is It For You?

If you don’t enjoy zero-luck head-to-head games or prefer your abstract strategy games to be perfectly fair, then Santorini might not be the best pick. 👎

But if you want a two-player game that has you thinking several moves ahead to outsmart your opponent, feels fresh with its use of 3D space, and injects a ton of fun variability with unique player powers, then Santorini is definitely worth checking out. 👍

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Santorini Review