Santorini (2nd Edition)

The rules fit on a postcard. The gods do not.

Two builders each, a five-by-five grid, and a Greek island going up one block at a time. Santorini is the rare abstract game that looks like something: chunky blue-domed buildings that stack into real towers on the table rather than discs pushed around a board. Designed by Gord!, with artwork by Lina Cossette, David Forest and Mr. Cuddington. Roxley's version is a re-imagining of a purely abstract game from 2004, and the re-imagining is most of the appeal — you are not moving counters, you are building a village.

A turn is two steps and nothing else. Move one of your builders into a neighbouring space — stay level, step up exactly one storey, or drop down as many as you like — then build a level adjacent to the builder you just moved. Put a level on top of a third storey and it becomes a dome, closing that square for good. Get either of your builders onto a third storey and you win. That is the whole rulebook, and it takes about thirty seconds to teach.

Then you deal the gods, and each one breaks a rule you have just learned. Thirty-two of them in this box, plus four mode cards, which works out at several hundred possible matchups — so the same small climbing race keeps turning into a different puzzle depending on which two turn up. It is rated best at two players; at four you play in teams rather than a free-for-all.

Please note: This is the second edition, which upgrades the buildings and hero figures and revises and rebalances the god cards. It is the retail edition with 32 gods and 4 mode cards — not the Pantheon Edition, which carries 100 gods and 12 mode cards.

Perfect for: The chess player who would like something to look at, and the household where ‘one more game’ means the towers are already being rebuilt.

2–4 players | 30 minutes | Age 8+

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📖 New to the genre? What Is an Abstract Strategy Game? — what defines an abstract, and five worth trying.