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Gamehelpsantorini
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How To Play
Setup
1. The first player offers 2, 3, or 4 power cards for selection (depending on player count). Try the Quick Setup option to have Board Game Arena do this for you.
2. The first player chooses which power will start the game. Follow our suggestion for a balanced game.
3. In turn order, each player selects a power from those on offer. The first player receives the last remaining power.
4. Whoever selected the starting power becomes the new first player.
5. Each player places 2 workers in their color on empty spaces of the board.
On Your Turn
1. Move one of your workers to an unoccupied neighboring space. You may move in any of the 8 directions as long as you do not move up more than 1 level.
Win condition: If your worker moves up to level 3 during your turn, you win!
Loss condition: If none of your workers can move, you lose.
2. Build a block (ground level, level 1, level 2) or dome (level 3) on an unoccupied space neighboring the moved worker. You may build on any level.
Loss condition: If your worker cannot build, you lose.
The heart of the game are the variable player powers, which adjust these basic rules for each player. God Powers provide a powerful ongoing ability while Hero Powers provide a once-per-game ability. Try the Simple Gods option for your first few games.
Variants
No Powers (2 players)
With 2 players, it is possible to play the game without using power cards, although we do not recommend this.
Golden Fleece Variant (2 players)
During setup, players select one shared power card and place it beside the board. After placing workers, the first player places the golden Ram figure on the board, and the second player takes the first turn. At the start of each turn, any players neighboring the Ram figure receive the power for that turn. Players gain/lose the power throughout the game as they move around the board.
Team Game (4 players)
With 4 players, teams of two players share control of the workers in their color. Each player selects their own power card and cannot use their teammate's power. During setup, the first player on each team places the workers and the second player of each team takes the first turn. Players win or lose the game as a team.
Glossary
The following terms have special significance:
Blocks are the square white pieces of a tower built on ground level, level 1, and level 2.
Domes are the round blue pieces of a tower built on level 3. Domes are not blocks.
Complete Towers consist of 3 blocks and a dome.
Unoccupied spaces do not contain workers, domes, or the Ram figure (used only in the Golden Fleece Variant).
Move and Build are the normal turn actions.
Force is a special action available to some powers. Force is not the same as move so it does not trigger the normal win condition.
Tokens are special markers related to some powers. Tokens cannot be placed on a space that is occupied or contains a token. Tokens are removed from the board when built upon.
Differences from the Physical Game
If you've played this board game in real life, note that minor rules changes from the game designer have been incorporated in the BGA adaption to improve balance:
• The setup changed. Instead of choosing the first player, you choose the first power.
• The text on 12 powers changed. The cards are clearly marked with REVISED POWER.
Additionally, the BGA adaption has a specific and limited interpretation of "if possible". While it is consistent and well-defined, it may not match your definition of "if possible" (also note that the official rules provide no explanations or definitions related to "if possible"). BGA doesn't have a complex look-ahead engine to analyze the complete set of possible turns. Instead, "if possible" is late-evaluated based on the board state at the moment the condition would apply. For example, powers like Adonis or Persephone that limit an opponent's movement only apply at the moment an opponent needs to move. If the opponent can somehow take an action before their movement phase that affects their movement options, we don't stop the player from taking this action so they may be able to avoid Adonis/Persephone's restriction.
List of Powers (66)
Achilles, Volatile Warrior
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe
Your Turn: Once, your Worker builds both before and after moving.
Adonis, Devastatingly Handsome
Players: 2 — Hero Power — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe, Hecate
End of Your Turn: Once, choose one of your Workers and an opponent Worker. If possible, the Workers must be neighboring at the end of your opponent's next turn.
Aeolus, God of the Winds
Players: 2, 3, 4 — REVISED POWER
Setup: Place the Wind Token on your God Power card.
End of Your Turn: If the Wind Token is on your God Power card, you may place the Wind Token beside the board and orient it to indicate the direction of the Wind. Otherwise, you may return the Wind Token to your God Power card.
Any Move: If the Wind Token is not on your God Power card, Workers cannot move directly into the Wind.
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
Players: 2, 4
Banned: Nemesis, Urania
Any Move: If an opponent Worker starts its turn neighboring one of your Workers, its last move must be to a space neighboring one of your Workers.
Apollo, God Of Music
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Move: Your Worker may move into an opponent Worker's space by forcing their Worker to the space yours just vacated.
Ares, God of War
Players: 2, 3, 4
End of Your Turn: You may remove an unoccupied block (not dome) neighboring your unmoved Worker. You also remove any Tokens on the block.
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Move: Your Worker may move one additional time, but not back to its initial space.
Asteria, Goddess of Falling Stars
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hades
End of Your Turn: If one of your Workers moved down this turn, you may build a dome in any unoccupied space.
Atalanta, Swift Huntress
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe, Persephone
Your Move: Once, your Worker moves any number of additional times.
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God
Opponent's Turn: If one of your Workers moved up on your last turn, opponent Workers cannot move up this turn.
Atlas, Titan Shouldering the Heavens
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Gaea
Your Build: Your Worker may build a dome at any level.
Bellerophon, Tamer of Pegasus
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe
Your Move: Once, your Worker moves up two levels.
Bia, Goddess of Violence
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant — REVISED POWER
Banned: Nemesis, Tartarus
Setup: Place your Workers first. Your workers must be placed in perimeter spaces.
Your Move: If your Worker moves into a space and the next space in the same direction is occupied by an opponent Worker, the opponent's Worker is removed from the game.
Castor & Pollux, Divine & Mortal Twins
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Alternative Turn: Move with all of your Workers. Do not build.
Alternative Turn: Do not move. Build with all of your Workers.
Chaos, Primordial Nothingness
Players: 2, 3, 4
Banned: Hecate, Nyx
Setup: Shuffle all unused Simple God Powers into a face-down deck in your play area. Draw the top God Power, and place it face-up beside the deck.
Any Time: You have the Power of the face-up God Power. You must discard your current God Power and draw a new one after any turn in which at least one dome is built. If you run out of God Powers, shuffle them to create a new deck and draw the top one.
Charon, Ferryman to the Underworld
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hecate
Your Move: Before your Worker moves, you may force a neighboring opponent Worker to the space directly on the other side of your Worker, if that space is unoccupied.
Charybdis, Whirlpool Monster
Players: 2, 3, 4 — REVISED POWER
Banned: Hecate
Setup: Place 2 Whirlpool Tokens on your God Power card.
End of Your Turn: You may place a Whirlpool Token from your God Power card on any unoccupied space on the board.
Any Time: If a Worker moves onto a Whirlpool and the other Whirlpool is on the board in an unoccupied space, it is forced to the other Whirlpool's space. In this case, the player cannot win by moving their Worker to the first Whirlpool's space but can win as if it had moved up to the second space. Whirlpool Tokens built on or removed are returned to your God Power card.
Chronus, God of Time
Players: 2
Banned: Nyx
Win Condition: You also win when there are at least five Complete Towers on the board.
Circe, Divine Enchantress
Players: 2
Banned: Achilles, Adonis, Atalanta, Bellerophon, Clio, Eros, Gaea, Graeae, Hecate, Heracles, Jason, Medea, Nyx, Odysseus, Polyphemus, Proteus, Tartarus, Theseus
Start of Your Turn: If an opponent's Workers do not neighbor each other, you alone have use of their power until your next turn.
Clio, Muse of History
Players: 2, 3
Banned: Circe, Nemesis
Your Build: Place a Coin Token on each of the first 3 blocks your Workers build.
Opponent's Turn: Opponents treat spaces containing your Coin Tokens as if they contain only a dome.
Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Build: Your Worker may build one additional time, but not on the same space.
Dionysus, God of Wine
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hecate, Nyx
Your Build: Each time a Worker you control creates a Complete Tower, you may take an additional turn using an opponent Worker instead of your own. No player can win during these additional turns.
Eris, Goddess of Discord
Players: 2, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant — REVISED POWER
Banned: Hecate, Persephone, Tartarus
Alternative Turn: Move and build with an opponent Worker that was not the one your opponent most recently moved. No player can win during this alternative turn.
Eros, God of Desire
Players: 2, 3, 4
Banned: Circe
Setup: Place your Workers anywhere along opposite edges of the board.
Win Condition: You also win if one of your Workers moves to a space neighboring your other Worker and both are on the first level (or the same level in a 3-player game).
Europa & Talus, Queen & Guardian Automaton
Players: 2, 3, 4
Setup: Place the Talus Token on your God Power card.
End of Your Turn: You may relocate your Talus Token to an unoccupied space neighboring the Worker that moved.
Any Time: All players treat the space containing the Talus Token as if it contains only a dome.
Gaea, Goddess of the Earth
Players: 2, 3
Banned: Atlas, Circe, Nemesis, Selene
Setup: Place 2 extra Workers of your color on your God Power card.
Any Build: When a Worker builds a dome, Gaea may immediately place a Worker from her God Power card onto a ground-level space neighboring the dome.
Graeae, The Gray Hags
Players: 2, 3 — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe, Nemesis
Setup: When placing your Workers, place 3 of your color.
Your Build: Build with either Worker that did not move.
Hades, God of the Underworld
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Asteria, Pan
Opponent's Turn: Opponent Workers cannot move down.
Harpies, Winged Menaces
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hermes, Maenads, Triton
Opponent's Turn: Each time an opponent's Worker moves, it is forced space by space in the same direction until the next space is at a higher level or it is obstructed.
Hecate, Goddess of Magic
Players: 2
Banned: Adonis, Chaos, Charon, Charybdis, Circe, Dionysus, Eris, Iris, Medea, Nemesis, Nyx, Odysseus, Proteus, Scylla, Siren, Tartarus, Theseus
Setup: Secretly place your Workers last. Your Workers are invisible to other players.
Any Time: If an opponent attempts an action that would not be legal due to the presence of your secret Workers, their action is cancelled and they lose the rest of their turn.
Hephaestus, God of Blacksmiths
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Build: Your Worker may build one additional block (not dome) on top of your first block.
Hera, Goddess of Marriage
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Opponent's Turn: An opponent cannot win by moving into a perimeter space.
Heracles, Doer of Great Deeds
Players: 2 — Hero Power — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe
Alternative Build: Once, both your Workers build any number of domes (even zero) at any level.
Hermes, God of Travel
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Harpies
Your Turn: If your Workers do not move up or down, they may each move any number of times (even zero), and then either builds.
Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Build: Your Worker may build one additional time, but this cannot be on a perimeter space.
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Any Time: All Workers except your female Worker may only move diagonally.
Hydra, Many-Headed Monster
Players: 2, 3
End of Your Turn: If none of your Workers neighbor each other, gain a new Worker and place it in one of the lowest unoccupied spaces next to the Worker you moved. Otherwise, remove one of your Workers from play.
Hypnus, God of Sleep
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Terpsichore
Start of Opponent's Turn: If one of your opponent's Workers is higher than all of their others, it cannot move.
Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hecate
Your Move: If there is a Worker neighboring your Worker and the space directly on the other side of it is unoccupied, your Worker may move to that space regardless of its level.
Jason, Leader of the Argonauts
Players: 2 — Hero Power — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe
Setup: Place an extra Worker of your color on your God Power card.
Alternative Turn: Once, place your extra Worker on an unoccupied ground-level perimeter space. Then move and build with this Worker.
Limus, Goddess of Famine
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant — REVISED POWER
Banned: Terpsichore
Opponent's Turn: Opponent Workers cannot build on spaces neighboring your Workers, unless building a dome.
Maenads, Raving Ones
Players: 2, 3, 4
Banned: Harpies
End of Your Turn: If your Workers neighbor an opponent's Worker on opposite sides, that opponent loses the game.
Medea, Powerful Sorceress
Players: 2 — Hero Power — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe, Hecate
End of Your Turn: Once, remove all blocks from under a Worker neighboring either of your Workers. You also remove any Tokens on the blocks.
Medusa, Petrifying Gorgon
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Nemesis
End of Your Turn: If possible, your Workers build in lower neighboring spaces that are occupied by opponent Workers, removing the opponent Workers from the game.
Minotaur, Bull-headed Monster
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Move: Your Worker may move into an opponent Worker's space, if their Worker can be forced one space straight backwards to an unoccupied space at any level.
Morpheus, God of Dreams
Players: 2, 3, 4
Start of Your Turn: Place a coin on your God Power card.
Your Build: Your Worker cannot build as normal. Instead, spend any number of coins from your God Power card (even zero) and build that many times.
Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution
Players: 2, 3, 4 — REVISED POWER
Banned: Aphrodite, Bia, Clio, Gaea, Graeae, Hecate, Medusa, Terpsichore, Theseus
End of Your Turn: If none of an opponent's Workers neighbor yours, you may force both of your Workers to spaces occupied by two of an opponent's Workers, and vice versa.
Nyx, Goddess of Night
Players: 2
Banned: Chaos, Chronus, Circe, Dionysus, Hecate
Setup: Before players choose powers, the first player selects a God Power card to be Nyx's Night Power.
End of All Turns: If there are an odd number of Complete Towers in play, gain your Night Power and your opponent loses their God Power. If there are an even number of Complete Towers, lose your Night Power and your opponent gains their God Power.
Odysseus, Cunning Leader
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe, Hecate
Start of Your Turn: Once, force to unoccupied corner spaces any number of opponent Workers that neighbor your Workers.
Pan, God of the Wild
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hades
Win Condition: You also win if your Worker moves down two or more levels.
Pegasus, Winged Horse
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Move: Your Worker may move up more than one level, but cannot win the game by doing so.
Persephone, Goddess of Spring Growth
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Atalanta, Eris
Opponent's Turn: If possible, at least one Worker must move up this turn.
Polyphemus, Gigantic Cyclops
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe
End of Your Turn: Once, your Worker builds up to 2 domes at any level on any unoccupied spaces on the board.
Poseidon, God of the Sea
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
End of Your Turn: If your unmoved Worker is on the ground level, it may build up to three times.
Prometheus, Titan Benefactor of Mankind
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Simple God — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Turn: If your Worker does not move up, it may build both before and after moving.
Proteus, Shapeshifting Sea God
Players: 2, 3 — REVISED POWER
Banned: Circe, Hecate
Setup: When placing your Workers, place 3 of your color.
Your Move: After your Worker moves, if possible, force one of your other Workers into the space just vacated.
Scylla, Menacing Sea Monster
Players: 2, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hecate
Your Move: If your Worker moves from a space that neighbors an opponent's Worker, you may force their Worker into the space yours just vacated.
Selene, Goddess of the Moon
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Gaea
Alternative Build: Your female Worker may build a dome at any level regardless of which Worker moved.
Siren, Alluring Sea Nymph
Players: 2, 3, 4 — REVISED POWER
Banned: Hecate
Setup: Place the Arrow Token beside the board and orient it to indicate the direction of the Siren's Song.
Alternative Turn: Force one or more opponent Workers one space in the direction of the Siren's Song to unoccupied spaces at any level. Then build with any of your Workers.
Tartarus, God of the Abyss
Players: 2
Banned: Bia, Circe, Eris, Hecate, Terpsichore
Setup: Place your Workers first. After all players' Workers are placed, secretly place the Abyss Token on an unoccupied space. This space is the Abyss.
Lose Condition: If any player's Worker enters the Abyss, they immediately lose. Workers cannot win by entering the Abyss.
Terpsichore, Muse of Dancing
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Hypnus, Limus, Nemesis, Tartarus
Your Turn: All of your Workers must move, and then all must build.
Theseus, Slayer of the Minotaur
Players: 2 — Hero Power
Banned: Circe, Hecate, Nemesis
End of Your Turn: Once, if any of your Workers is exactly 2 levels below any neighboring opponent Workers, remove one of those opponent Workers from play.
Triton, God of the Waves
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Harpies
Your Move: Each time your Worker moves into a perimeter space, it may immediately move again.
Tyche, Goddess of Fortune
Players: 2, 3, 4
Setup: Shuffle a deck of 6 cards in your play area.
End of Your Turn: Draw the top card of your deck. If it is 1 - 5, discard it. If it is 6, reshuffle your deck and you may take an additional turn. On that additional turn, do not draw the top card from your deck.
Urania, Muse of Astronomy
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Banned: Aphrodite
Your Turn: When your Worker moves or builds, treat opposite edges and corners as if they are adjacent so that every space has 8 neighbors.
Zeus, God of the Sky
Players: 2, 3, 4 — Golden Fleece Variant
Your Build: Your Worker may build a block under itself.