With the introduction of steel-skeleton construction, New York’s skyline drastically changed in the early 1900s. Buildings as high as 10-stories began popping up all over the place but were quickly dwarfed by new 22-story buildings with electricity and elevators. Skyscrapers such as the Woolworth Building, Chrysler Building, and Empire State Building have become iconic since their completion but were beyond their time when they were being constructed. Santorini: New York transports players back to this golden era of architecture in Manhattan, fulfilling the roles of the city’s working class. To prove themselves against the competition, players will work to construct historic skyscrapers and other buildings.

Though released in 2020, Santorini: New York is a new acquisition for us and one that has been on our radar for some time now. Considering how much we adore our Kickstarter edition of Roxley Games‘ Santorini, we were both excited and concerned about this 2-5 player spin on the original. Gordon Hamilton returns with this fresh take on his original design and is rejoined by Mr. Cuddington (a.k.a. Lina Cossette and David Forest) as the illustrators for this project. In addition to the Santorini games, Hamilton has designed King’s Kilt, 12 Days of Christmas, and the upcoming release of Ragnarocks. The Mr. Cuddington art studio has produced artwork for over seventy games at this time; demonstrating a wide range of art styles. Some of our favorites include Woodlands, Grimm Forest, Brass, Unfair, and, of course, Santorini.

Setup is quick and simple for Santorini: New York. Starting with the youngest player and working your way around the table each player will choose a color and place their workers on the board in two spaces of their choice that have matching numbers. They are a bit hard to see on the board, but if you look closely they are there towards the South end of the island. Place the Skyscrapers, Buildings, and Rooftops within reach near the board along with the Statue of Liberty, and then choose one worker type from each category to form the deck before shuffling. Take the appropriate Reference Cards for the workers chosen and place them next to the board for everyone to have access to. Deal 5 cards to each player, place one Skyscraper if the Tour Bus Driver is among your chosen workers, and that’s it!

At its core, the gameplay remains fairly similar to the original Santorini. On a player’s turn, they will, unless an effect modifies their basic operation, choose one of their worker markers in play to first move to an adjacent open space that is no more than one level higher than the current position to move into and then build in an unoccupied adjacent location to their new position. If a player manages to move onto the third level of a building on their turn, they claim victory. Santorini: New York adds quite a bit from there, however, and we will get into that next. In this edition, as a second condition for winning, one must have the Statue of Liberty on their turn to claim victory. Buildings can still be capped, thus turning them into permanently occupied spaces, and Skyscrapers can be constructed in a single action by doing the same. At the beginning of a round, each player selects a card from their hand and plays it facedown. Once everybody has selected their card they are flipped, the highest card value played takes the Statue of Liberty, and play will proceed from the lowest to the highest card in order. The board is no longer a perfect square and with the different dynamics introduced via the chosen cards the game, while building from the roots of the original, has become something quite different.

So, with all of this being factored in, how does Santorini: New York hold up against the original? One of the greatest draws for us, and also one of the reasons we love the original so much, is the fact that the game can be taught in less than five minutes, yet still holds a level of tactical depth to draw in most players. There is an expansion for the original that adds the option for a third player as well as a card system that is similar yet still different than that of the sequel. Santorini: New York holds its own, and in our mind could easily be considered an improvement for those looking for something more than what the original provided. That being said it is the simple, tight, and straightforward tactics of the original that keep us coming back, and as a personal preference, we still prefer Santorini version 1.0 as our go-to recommendation. We also do not doubt that if you love the original, finding a copy of New York is something to consider, as it definitely provides a new take on a great game by adding new mechanics, a higher player count, along with a ton of replayability and customization, all while continuing the spirit of the original both in style, art, and competitiveness. To the wary, we should mention that there is much more luck involved in the new version with the introduction of “high card / low card” mechanics, much different strategic plays, push and move mechanics to affect other player’s positions, and a few other items we will leave for the buyer to discover. All that taken into consideration, this box will be finding a home on our shelf next to its older sibling so that we can pull it down and enjoy it with friends and family, and we hope that it might do the same in your collection. Cheers, and happy gaming!

All photos of Roxley Games and Spin Master Ltd. products were taken and edited by Krista.