Santorini

Santorini (2003) is a strategy game where you place buildings on a Greek island in an effort to get your character to the top. This creates a chess-like three-dimensional competitive puzzle that changes as each player adds pieces to the village. It's unusual not only because of this tactical play but through the varied Greek Gods you play as, each with brilliant abilities that lead to very different strategies and win states.

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Play involves choosing one of the Gods to determine your powers and then placing two workers on the board. Players take turns to move and then build (add a building piece to the city). This creates growing cityscapes where you can move your characters up and down one level at a time. Getting one of yours to the top of a three-high building wins the game.

This simple gameplay is extended by 'God' powers which change the mechanics in fundamental ways. One power allows a player to win by jumping down from a two-high building. Another power enables you to move both characters any number of squares, while another lets you build an additional time.

The remarkable thing about the game is how these powers drastically alter the play, but in spite of first impressions, are balanced to create nail-biting showdowns no matter the chosen combination. This not only offers variety but also gives lots of reasons to keep playing with different powers.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Santorini 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ellen Robertson and updated 7 weeks ago.