Santorini is a deceptively simple game that takes less than 2 minutes to learn, yet sufficiently challenging to master, making it the perfect warm-up game for game nights.

It is best played with 2 players, where each player has 2 workers and an optional “God” card that grants the player certain powers. There are two flavors of these cards, “Simple” (10) and “Advanced” (20), creating well over 300 different combinations for a two-player game.

This is one of my favorite (2-player) games so far, especially since it is incredibly simple to teach, even with the “Advanced” Gods version, plays within 20 minutes, and is far more challenging and involved than games with similar time durations. The artwork is almost Chibi-like, and the miniature city that you end up building looks stunningly similar to the real thing. All in all, Santorini is an aesthetic, and a must have for your board game shelf.